Google included racist slur in push alerts on BAFTA controversy

Google officials apologized after the company sent out push notifications about Sunday’s BAFTA controversy that included a spelled-out racist slur.

The notification linked to a Hollywood Reporter article about the BAFTA film awards and included the following text: “See more on [anti-Black slur],” according to Hollywood Reporter sister publication Variety and screencaps shared on X.

Google officials told Variety that the notifications went out only to a small group of people who receive push notifications, and that AI was not to blame for the error. Instead, Google blamed its safety filters, which did not trigger when it “recognized a euphemism for an offensive term on several web pages and accidentally applied the offensive term to the notification text.”

The search giant apologized on Tuesday, with a spokesperson saying, “We’re deeply sorry for this mistake. We’ve removed the offensive notification and are working to prevent this from happening again.”

Fallout continues over Sunday’s BAFTA awards, the British equivalent of the Oscars, when a man with Tourette syndrome shouted a racist slur as Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the first award. Others in attendance reported on X that Davidson, who was the basis for the BAFTA-winning film I Swear, had other racially charged tics during the night.

Davidson has coprolalia, the involuntary use of obscene language, which affects approximately 10 percent of individuals with Tourette Syndrome, according to the Tourette Association of America.

While the show was not produced live, the TV airing included the slur, which was audible to most audiences watching it on the BBC. The slur also remained on the BBC’s streaming service until it was yanked off the air on Monday morning.

While BAFTA officials informed in-person attendees that a person with Tourette syndrome was in the audience, and host Alan Cumming apologized after the incident to “those offended tonight,” many were unhappy about the handling of the slur; Cumming’s wording certainly received much criticism.

Others were upset that the speech by Black film director Akinola Davies Jr. was cut from the same broadcast with the slur, including a portion where he said, “Free Palestine.” The BBC didn’t provide clarity to Variety about that editorial choice.

Davidson later released a statement where he said he is “mortified” if anyone considers “involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.” BAFTA leaders announced on Tuesday that a “comprehensive review” of the events of the award show was already underway.