Michael B. Jordan's 'Sinners' Co-Star Breaks Silence on 'Painful' BAFTAs Racial Slur: 'Kind of Kept Me Awake at Night'

The 2026 BAFTAs remain unforgettable for many, and not in a good way. For Michael B. Jordan's “Sinners” co-star Wunmi Mosaku, that February 22nd night is like a bad memory she cannot shake.

What was meant to be a celebration turned sour when Tourette's activist John Davidson shouted the N-word at Jordan and Delroy Lindo as they presented an award.

The shocking moment sparked backlash and left the audience unsettled. Mosaku has now spoken out, criticizing the BBC for how it handled the broadcast. 

On the red carpet at the 2026 Actors Awards, Mosaku described how deeply the incident affected her, while questioning if she can move past it. 

"I was there, and it was painful to have that celebration, kind of, really tainted for me," Mosaku said to Entertainment Tonight reporters, as seen in a video shared on Facebook.

While acknowledging Davidson's condition and insisting she had no “hard feelings” towards him, she feels that the event organizers failed to prepare for the show adequately. 

"I feel like BAFTA has a lot of lessons to learn," Mosaku said. "I think (Sinners costar) Jayme Lawson said it yesterday, it felt like exploitative and performative to have someone there without the full protection of everybody, including him and anyone in that audience. There were children in that audience."

What disturbed her most was the BBC's decision to air the show with the insult intact despite a two-hour delay.

"That's the bit that kind of kept me awake at night and brought tears to my eyes," Mosaku admitted. “I was like, ‘You really chose to keep that in.’ I can't understand it, and I'm not sure I can forgive it.”

Mosaku’s comments come after reports that Jordan was shaken by the event. Sources said he felt “disgusted and repulsed” after experiencing the racial abuse. 

As The Blast reported, insiders said the moment was particularly difficult for the “Creed” actor, given he had studied the psychological effects of racism to perfectly portray his role as Smoke and Stack in the horror film.

The insider said the incident reminded Jordan of the ongoing need to confront and end racism. The timing of the outburst was also hard, as Jordan had already been dealing with upsetting news from Atlanta earlier that day, and the slur added to his distress. 

Following the shocking incident, BBC Chief Content Officer Kate Phillips addressed the situation, noting that the team had tried to avoid any controversy from the event. 

Per The Blast, Phillips apologized to employees for the oversight in an internal memo, explaining that while one offensive remark was not edited out of the broadcast, the editing team had successfully removed another racial word.

While apologizing, Philips noted that the network took responsibility for the incident. She added that even as they had warned about the possibility of involuntary verbal tics due to Tourette syndrome, the warning doesn't erase the emotional impact of what happened.

Davidson, on his part, has since issued an apology, highlighting his disorder and how unintentional his words were. The 54-year-old suffers from coprolalia, a condition that causes the involuntary use of socially unacceptable words.

In his statement, he thanked the organizers, explaining that the warm applause he received after the announcement of his condition made him feel "welcomed and understood.” He also pushed back against claims that he deliberately used the word.

“I am, and always have been, deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning,” Davidson shared, per The Blast.

The advocate went further in explaining how the ailment works way out of his control and is unstoppable. 

According to The Blast, Davidson described his tics as something that erupts without warning, comparing suppression to shaking a soda bottle until pressure forces it open. 

He added that in his case, he has very little ability to hold tics back, especially in high-stress situations like the award night.

He emphasized that the offensive words he blurts out are not a reflection of his values, and the BAFTAs incident took an emotional toll on him.