Alan Cumming vowed he would never host the Baftas again before the 2026 ceremony became an “international scandal”.
The Traitors host took to the stage to host the prizegiving in London on Feb 22 but the show was engulfed in controversy after Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson – whose life inspired acclaimed movie I Swear – involuntarily blurted out the N-word while Sinners co-stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were onstage presenting a prize.
Now host Alan – who had to apologise during the ceremony – has admitted he was fed up with the job before he even took to the stage, telling The Sunday Times newspaper: “Right before it started, I said to my agent: ‘Remind me, I never want to do this again’.”
He went on to tell the publication his travel plans had been botched and there wasn’t any food available during rehearsals, adding: “And it’s a tough gig. You’re trying to be funny for a bunch of people who are used to very generic, middle-of-the-road things, so you’re fighting against the quirky personality they want you to bring to it. That’s a battle.”
Alan also insisted he wasn’t impressed with how Bafta bosses handled the N-word controversy, insisting they could have done more to prepare him prior to the event.
He said: “It was an international scandal … I had a thing in my ear and you can’t hear very specifically what’s happening. I haven’t actually asked them, but I don’t imagine that Delroy and Michael B Jordan heard the actual slur either, they were probably just, like: ‘Well, there’s someone shouting in the audience’ …
“I watched myself back [reading the apology onstage]. I was very smiley, I didn’t do it with the gravitas and tone I would have used had I known. That p***** me off.
“It was bad, bad, bad, bad leadership. Bad people who weren’t doing their jobs properly, who really had not prepared and let people down …
“They just said: ‘There’ll be noise’ You could say they didn’t know [what might happen], but they clearly did, because apparently John had said the N-word at a party the day before. They were thinking of shouting at me during the dress rehearsal to see what I’d do, but they didn’t.”
After the Baftas ceremony, awards show bosses issued an apology while Alan also shared a statement on social media branding the event a “trauma triggering s***show”.
He wrote: “It’s now a week since I hosted the Baftas. “What should have been an evening celebrating creativity as well as diversity and inclusion turned into a trauma triggering s***show.
“I’m so sorry for all the pain Black people have felt at hearing that word echoed round the world. I’m so sorry the Tourettes community has been reminded of the lack of understanding and tolerance that abounds regarding their condition.”
Alan went on to add: “The only possible good that could come of this is a reminder that words matter, that rushing to judgment about things of which we are not fully cognisant is folly, that all trauma must be recognised and honoured.”
The actor concluded his statement by conceding it was wrong for the moment to have been shown on TV by the BBC, adding: “We were all let down by decisions made to both broadcast slurs and censor free speech.
“Congratulations to all the artists whose work was overshadowed by the night’s events.”
Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson left the ceremony early and later apologised for what happened admitting he felt “deeply mortified”, while the BBC issued an apology for airing the moment and Bafta bosses confirmed they were launching a “comprehensive review”.
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