The BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards have been in the news more for the incident that occurred while Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting than for the awards themselves. And now, after BAFTA and BBC issued apologies for the usage of the N-word during the event, it’s Google’s turn to apologise for using it while sending out a news alert about the incident.
Google’s new alert about BAFTA incident uses N-word
Content creator Danny Price noticed on Tuesday that Google sent a news alert to millions of users while they used the N-word. Ironically, while pushing an article that was reporting on the incident, Google added, “See more on (N-word).” When Deadline reached out to the tech conglomerate, a spokesperson apologised and said: “We’re very sorry for this mistake. We’ve removed the offensive notification and are working to prevent this from happening again.”
Numerous people had varied reactions to both the apology and the usage of the N-word yet again. “Yo it just keeps getting worse,” wrote an X (formerly Twitter) user posting the screenshot. “ts so wild bro, what is in the air this black history month,” wrote another. “I CAN’T BREATHE,” wrote an X user while posting the screenshot and Google’s apology. “BAFTA didn’t censor someone with a disability saying The hard r, google published an article with the word fully wrote out, Justin still calling it “our month” what a terrible back half of BHM,” pondered one.
“google’s AI sending out the n-word in a push notification during black history month and the BAFTA guy with tourette’s shouting it on live TV in the same week. 2026 is absolutely unhinged,” wrote another. Not everyone was buying that Google didn’t know what it was doing when an X user alleging, “Oh, come on…lol. The algorithyms are designed 1st & foremost to promote engagement…& everything else is secondary to engagement. Removing the scandalous use of the word at the BAFTA’s lessens engagement. It’s a feature, not a bug, lol.”
What happened at BAFTA Awards
On Sunday, Michael and Delroy were on stage when a Tourette’s activist named John Davidson loudly yelled the N-word. After videos of the incident went viral, with many questioning why it was aired, the BAFTA and BBC issued an apology on Monday.
According to AP, John said he was ‘deeply mortified’, and it was ‘not a reflection of my personal beliefs’. He also said in a statement: “I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”
BAFTA issued an apology for ‘offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many’, thanking Michael and Delroy for their ‘dignity and professionalism.’ The BBC did not censor out the word while broadcasting the ceremony two hours later. The broadcaster apologised for not editing it out before the broadcast.
