Sinners Actress Jayme Lawson has spoken out about the incident at the BAFTA Awards, where Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo had a racist slur shouted at them while presenting on stage.
She called it a failure of genuine inclusion and taking direct aim at both BAFTA and it BBC.
speaks to The Hollywood Reporter on the NAACP Image Awards red carpet, Lawson began by praising the two men at the center of the incident.
“I want to say a big shout-out to Mike and Delroy first; let’s continue to honor them for how they handled it in real time,” she said.
“The grace and dignity that they exercised and the whole home team, everyone that was out there, did really well.”
The order was shouted by guest John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome.
But Lawson made it clear that she did not place the blame on Davidson himself.
“That man’s disability was taken advantage of that night and it led to more offences,” she said. “It’s BAFTA’s fault.”
Her argument was that inviting someone into a space without putting adequate safeguards in place is not true inclusion.
“Just because you invite someone into a space, but you don’t provide the necessary resources to keep them and everyone else in that space safe knowing they’re there, that’s not inclusivity. That’s exploitation.”
She reserved her sharpest words for BBC‘s decision to air the moment.
“The BBC to air what they broadcast is careless, and not as a random accident, a real lack of care was shown for the two black men.”
Lawson pointed to what she described as a telling contrast: the BBC had censored other content during the same broadcast, including, she alleged, a speech by Akinola Davies Jr., director of My father’s shadow.
“You censored a black man. You failed to protect two others and our production designer, Hannah [Beachler]. You don’t care about our dignity, our humanity. You want to celebrate our art, but you don’t want to protect [us].”
She ended on a note about the importance of spaces where black artists feel truly safe and valued.
“That is why we celebrate Sinners. That’s why we celebrate Ryan [Coogler]. That’s why we show up for the NAACP, because those are areas where we felt safe, where we feel safe.”
At the NAACP Image Awards itself, the evening contained its own moment of solidarity.
Regina Hall asked the audience to pause and show their appreciation for Jordan and Lindo, who received a standing ovation.
Lindo also addressed the incident publicly for the first time when he took to the stage to present alongside Ryan Coogler, saying the support shown to him and Jordan had meant a lot.
He described the episode as “a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive.”
