- Not acting the part - 24th February 2026
- Death wish - 23rd February 2026
- Return to sender - 20th February 2026
The BBC were forced to say sorry after racial abuse was shouted during the BAFTAs while two black actors were on stage, yet The Eye have received no apology for their REFUSAL to answer our questions about the shocking number of scandals to have engulfed the giant corporation, which were sent to executives in 2024.
However the broadcaster sparked a major backlash from viewers and commentators in parts of the media, because it was viewed as biased for editing out “Free Palestine” during one speech, but keeping the racial slur in another.
A clip emerged online of an offensive word being yelled as Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, stars of vampire horror ‘Sinners’, presented the first award of the evening on Sunday night. Both men appeared to pause after the insult was heard, then continued their presentation.
Despite there being a two-hour time delay on the BBC’s coverage, the disgraceful racist language was aired to millions, and the enormous corporation apologised for “any offence caused”.
The Guardian reported: “The fallout over Tourette syndrome (TS) activist John Davidson’s outbursts at the Baftas on Sunday continued after Jamie Foxx and Wendell Pierce expressed their dismay at the incident.
“Davidson attended the Baftas as I Swear, the film inspired by his life of dealing with hostility triggered by TS, was up for a number of awards. He was heard several times shouting during the ceremony, including using the N-word while actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were on stage presenting the evening’s first prize.”
US entertainment outlet Variety reported other incidents throughout the ceremony, including the shouting of “shut the fuck up” at BAFTA chair Sara Putt, as well as “fuck you” when the award for best children’s and family film was being accepted.
In contrast, the BBC DID edit out “Free Palestine” from an acceptance speech made by filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr., after ‘My Father’s Shadow‘ won the BAFTA for outstanding British debut.
But these headline-grabbing issues highlight earlier controversies, and they may all have to be addressed by whoever takes over in Tim Davie’s high-profile role as BBC Director General (DG), after both he and his Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of News Deborah Turness resigned.
The resignations came amid criticism that a BBC Panorama (where our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry has worked) programme misled viewers by editing a speech of the US President Donald Trump.
Ms Turness has rejected institutional bias and said that journalists “aren’t corrupt”, proclaiming that BBC journalists are “hardworking people”, although
She announced: “…there is no escaping the fact he (Mr Davie) was very slow to act on this particular issue”.
The BBC reported: “This is seismic. To lose both the director general and the CEO of BBC News at the same time is unprecedented. It’s an extraordinary moment in the history of the BBC”.
The Guardian published: ‘In an announcement that caused shock within the corporation, Davie said his departure was “entirely my decision” and it comes as the BBC prepares to apologise for the way it edited a Trump speech’.
The Daily Mail stated: “…the scandal-hit broadcaster was this week plunged into a fresh crisis after an internal dossier exposed a string of incidents that demonstrate serious apparent bias in the Corporation’s reporting”.
As with the BAFTA coverage, huge condemnation of the corporation has hit social media over this too, with one critic saying there was pro-nationalist party Plaid Cymru (Plaid) bias to be addressed in BBC Cymru Wales (BBC CW).
The Daily Telegraph first broke the story of bias, but the BBC (where Phil was for 23 years) seemed unable to get on the front foot in the face of a deluge of damaging headlines about claims that it was systemic.
It appeared there was a rift between the BBC board and the news division with some arguing the corporation had, for too long, failed to address institutional bias, and others questioning whether what unfolded had been an orchestrated – and politicised – campaign against the corporation which claimed two big scalps.
The BBC had allowed the story to fester – and the White House called a scene in the programme at the heart of it all “fake news”.
The US president himself also weighed into the debate saying in a post on his Truth Social platform, that he celebrated the resignations and accused the BBC of “doctoring” his speech as well as of “trying to step on the scales of a presidential election”.
At a board meeting to discuss the growing crisis Ms Turness was apparently “ripped apart“.
Even before the apology was made public, it was clear the background to the incredible announcement of the departures was extraordinary, because former Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson had unleashed a furious tirade against the BBC, in which he had also slammed two veteran presenters, while demanding Mr Davie’s resignation.
The huge broadcaster had been accused of selectively editing a speech by President Trump to make it appear clearer that he had encouraged the US Capitol attack, according to a former external adviser to the corporation.
An edition of Panorama, broadcast a week before the US election, spliced together clips of a speech by him made on January 6 2021, which suggested that he told the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell”.
Worries have been raised in the past, too, about the corporation’s impartiality, despite Mr Davie declaring in Cardiff soon after his appointment: “If you want to be an opinionated columnist or partisan campaigner on social media then that is a valid choice, but you should not be working at the BBC”.
BBC rules underline this, and say that staff should also avoid using disclaimers such as ‘My views, not the BBC’s’ in their biographies and profiles, as they provide no defence against personal expressions of opinion.
It seems, though, that taking disciplinary action earlier against him was tempered by the knowledge that there were few alternatives, but the decision has now been taken out of the hands of senior officials
Perhaps the new person in charge will scrutinise episodes such as the BAFTA controversy more closely, as well as all the past controversies.
After the scandals it had seemed reasonable to ask the BBC about them.
This is the (extremely polite) request Phil put to their Media Office (MO) on December 19 2024, and he was encouraged because on the BBC’s website it is stated: “Enquiries from journalists will be responded to as quickly as possible”.
Hello.
I am Editor of a news website called The Eye.
Could you please answer the following questions:
1. In the light of the Gregg Wallace, and other affairs, what, if any, programmes are now not to be transmitted, and how many of them are there?
2. What, if any, changes have been made to your Whistleblowers’ Charter, and what are the dates of these?
3. What, if any, changes have been made to your safeguarding policies, and what are the dates of these?
Statements can be made by return to this address – it is checked constantly and is totally secure.
Thank you,
Phil Parry
To date, though, there has been NO reply apart from two automated messages saying that the requests had been received.
Maybe these questions are too difficult to answer when your boss has quit, and there has been extensive criticism about the BBC’s coverage of the BAFTAs.
The memories of Phil’s, remarkable decades long award-winning career in journalism (during which complaints often made the news) as he was gripped by the rare and incurable neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’ .Order the book now!
Soon – more problems for the BBC are revealed.
