Ryan Coogler’s genre-defying epic “Sinners” made history at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards.

The Black-directed and led vampire thriller collected three trophies: Best Supporting Actress (Wunmi Mosaku), Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay, thus becoming “the most-decorated movie from a Black director in the show’s history.” Its 13 nominations (a record for a film by a Black filmmaker) and Coogler’s win as the first Black writer to claim Original Screenplay highlighted its sweep. 

Coogler was visibly moved, thanking “the community that loves me…made me believe I could be a writer” and dedicating the win to all writers who draw on love and pain. This moment is a milestone! “Sinners” even beat out Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” record at BAFTA, signaling overdue recognition for Black stories.

“Sinners,” released April 2025, blends Southern Gothic, blues, vampire lore and stars Michael B. Jordan. It addresses heavy themes – “the theft of Black culture, the trauma of slavery, and the perversion of spiritual power by colonial forces” – even as it throbs with music, hope, and fierce joy. The film’s success (about $368 million worldwide) shows Black-led original stories can be both blockbusters and critical darlings, which became more obvious at Sunday night’s BAFTA.

However, the night’s high note was marred by a startling incident. Mid-ceremony, as “Sinners” stars Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented a visual-effects award, John Davidson, a Tourette’s campaigner in the audience, shouted the N-word. (BAFTA’s host Alan Cumming quickly explained that “Tourette syndrome is a disability, and the tics…are involuntary,” apologizing if anyone was offended. If?

The clip went viral, sparking immediate debate and visceral reactions. On social media, Jamie Foxx – a star of “Just Mercy” – called the outburst “Unacceptable,” bluntly commenting, “Nah he meant that sh*t”. Wendell Pierce (“Clemency”) added that the first priority should have been a sincere apology to Jordan and Lindo: “The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning for the racist slur,” he wrote. Even “Sinners’s” Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler, a Black woman, noted BAFTA’s “throwaway” apology (“if you were offended”) felt insufficient in the moment. Beachler shared on Threads that she too had the slur hurled at her from Davidson, saying it happened three times that night.

BAFTA’s biggest mistake that night wasn’t that the slur happened. Moments like that can be spontaneous and, in this case, involuntary — it was choosing to let it air. Maybe in the moment, no one could have physically stopped Davidson, but what’s hard to reconcile is that BAFTA used the same two-hour broadcast delay to remove other controversial material — like Akinola Davies Jr.’s “Free Palestine!” shout — yet left an appalling racial slur intact in the televised edit. Whether intended or involuntary, airing that word without having first muted or blurred it amplified the harm to the presenters and viewers, and it made the organization’s after-the-fact response look inadequate rather than accountable.

This intersection of celebration and controversy spotlights a broader history of Black disrespect at major award shows. For decades, mainstream awards often sidelined Black creators. Infamously, in 2017, the Black-directed and led film “Moonlight” won Best Picture at the Oscars, however, “La La Land” was announced and brought to the stage. “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz realized the error while on stage, interrupting the celebration to say, "There's a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won Best Picture.” Horowitz snatched the envelope and showed it to camera. The mistake was labeled as an envelope hand-off mixup. “Moonlight” also made history that night as the first film with an all-Black cast to win Best Picture.

As one Guardian critic noted, the 2020 hashtag #BaftasSoWhite trended after no nominees of color in acting, forcing BAFTA to overhaul its rules and diversify membership. The Oscars, by contrast, “stagger way behind” on representation. #OscarsSoWhite launched five years earlier, a hashtag and rallying cry from thought leader April Reign that signaled the major awards player’s lack of diversity in acting nominations over the years. The campaign also forced the Academy to implement sweeping diversity initiatives, increasing representation in voting membership. 

Coogler’s wins (and two acting wins at BAFTA for “I Swear” — the film Davidson’s life is based on) hint at change – yet the slur outburst is a stark reminder that racism still intrudes. The looks on Jordan and Lindo’s faces screamed in silence. Black artists celebrated the historic victory, but bristled at the insult. “We know what that meant,” said Foxx – a sentiment shared by many – illustrating why even a historic night can be tinged with pain. ‘Sinners’’ sweep is both a breakthrough and a call to keep pushing for respect and equity both on-screen and off.