Delroy Lindo has shared what flashed through his mind in a “nanosecond” at the moment of the Baftas racial slur controversy.
At the film ceremony last month, Sinners stars Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting an award when audience member John Davidson, a Tourette’s campaigner whose life inspired the film I Swear, experienced a tic that caused him to shout the slur from his seat.
Lindo, 73, was hesitant to discuss the subject at length, but said he immediately thought: “Wait, did I just hear what I thought I heard?”
He told Fresh Air: “With all due respect, I’m actually not going to talk about this. I’m laughing because in the intro when you said, ‘Oh, yes, we’ll be talking about what happened with Bafta’, I chuckled because I said, ‘No, we’re not’.
Lindo said later in the interview: “You have to understand, we had jobs to do. We were the first presenters of the evening, and we had to read that teleprompter, and we both did exactly that.”
The actor added that his wife clocked something was wrong after Lindo, who received an Oscar nomination for his role in Sinners, repositioned his glasses.
“Now, a couple of people who know – my wife says that I adjusted my glasses, and she said she knew when I adjusted my glasses that something was happening internally.”
He said he let concern over what he heard leave his head as quickly as it arrived, stating: “It truly was a nanosecond. One had to read the teleprompter and get on with presenting the award. So, you know, there was no time at all.
“I processed in the way that I processed in a nanosecond. Mike did similarly, and we went on and did our jobs.”
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Lindo added that he had only spoken to Jordan about the subject last Sunday.
Davidson had been experiencing tics throughout the evening, with most of his outbursts – including other offensive terms, not just racial – removed from the televised footage.
However, the BBC’s failure to edit out the slur in question, despite a two-hour delay between the ceremony and the TV broadcast, has attracted heavy criticism.
In the wake of the incident, Lindo said that Bafta did not speak to him and Jordan. However, they remedied this in a follow-up statement, in which they apologised “unreservedly” to Jordan, Lindo and all those impacted after “a loud tic in the form of a profoundly offensive term” was heard in the room. Bafta thanked the actors for their “incredible dignity and professionalism”.
Davidson has since opened up in an interview about how “upset and distraught” he had been following the incident, claiming that he had been assured ahead of the event that offensive involuntary tics would be cut from the broadcast.
“I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past, and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette’s and worked harder to prevent anything that I said… from being included in the broadcast,” he said.
He stated that there had been a microphone situated “just in front” of him, adding: “With hindsight I have to question whether this was wise, so close to where I was seated, knowing I would tic.”
Davidson has a type of Tourette’s known as coprolalia, which causes involuntary cursing or socially inappropriate remarks.
Bafta apologised for the incident, stating it is taking “full responsibility”, while the BBC has fast-tracked an internal investigation into what it describes as a “serious mistake”.
Earlier this month, at the NAACP Image Awards, Lindo acknowledged the outpouring of support he had received following the Baftas.
“I’d just like to officially say, we appreciate all the support and love we have been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend. It means a lot to us,” the Oscar-nominated actor said.
“It is an honour to be here amongst our people this evening, amongst so many people who have shown us such incredible support. And it’s a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive.”
The actor’s past credits include Get Shorty, The Cider House Rules and Gone in 60 Seconds, as well as Spike Lee films Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers and Da 5 Bloods. The Oscars take place on 15 March.
