London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

BBC says sorry over racial slur in news report

BBC director general Tony Hall has apologised and said a mistake was made after a news report containing a racial slur was broadcast last month.

More than 18,600 people complained after the N-word was used in full in a report about a racially aggravated attack in Bristol.

The BBC initially defended the use of the slur, broadcast by Points West and the BBC News Channel on 29 July.

Lord Hall said he now accepts the BBC should have taken a different approach.

He said he recognised that the report had caused "distress" amongst many people, and said the BBC would be "strengthening" its guidance on offensive language in its output.

The use of the N-word in the broadcast prompted widespread criticism, including by a number of politicians and BBC staff.

'Slap in the face'


On Saturday, BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Sideman - real name David Whitely - quit the station over the row.

He said "the action and the defence of the action feels like a slap in the face of our community".

In its initial defence, the BBC said that the organisation felt it needed "to explain, and report, not just the injuries but, given their alleged extreme nature, the words alleged to have been used" in the attack on an NHS worker known as K-Dogg.

The decision had been supported by the victim's family, the corporation added.





The sight of K-Dogg's injuries is shocking. It took four hours to remove the glass from his face.

What wasn't clear when this story was first reported was the alleged racial motive.

The decision to include the "racist language, in full" - according to a statement on the BBC's complaints website - was, it's said, because his family wanted it to be "seen and understood" by the wider public.

The response - more than 18,000 complaints in a matter of days - makes it clear many people thought this was not just wrong, but insulting and deeply distressing. When Radio 1Xtra's Sideman resigned saying "the BBC sanctioning the N-word being broadcast on national television by a white person is something I can't rock with", he was echoing the views of large parts of the audience, and also many within the BBC.

The corporation has, in recent months, had to reverse a decision censuring BBC Breakfast's Naga Munchetty for her comments about Donald Trump's tweet suggesting four female politicians of colour should "go back" to "places from which they came". And there has been considerable internal debate raised by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Broadcasting a racial slur on the news was, they now accept, a "mistake", but this is about more than just one highly offensive word. As today's statement says, the BBC is, at the moment, having to "listen - and also to learn" when it comes to race.

On Sunday, the BBC's director of creative diversity June Sarpong welcomed Lord Hall's subsequent apology.

In a tweet, she wrote: "I am glad BBC director general Tony Hall has personally intervened to unequivocally apologise over BBC News' use of the N-word."

However, BBC Radio 1Xtra's DJ Target tweeted that it was "a total shame" that it had taken the resignation of a "young black broadcaster" to trigger the BBC apology.

Sideman highlighted parts of Lord Hall's apology on his Instagram, alongside a tweet that praised his "courage of conviction" in quitting - which he said had touched his "whole soul".

"If people actually take in the level of personal sacrifice involved in his move [...] a Jamaican born man with a Brum accent climbed all the way to the BBC... and quit," a member of the public tweeted.



Lord Hall said the BBC accepts it "should have taken a different approach"



In his message, Lord Hall emphasised "the BBC's intention was to highlight an alleged racist attack".

"This is important journalism which the BBC should be reporting on and we will continue to do so," he said.

"Yet despite these good intentions, I recognise that we have ended up creating distress amongst many people.

"The BBC now accepts that we should have taken a different approach at the time of broadcast and we are very sorry for that. We will now be strengthening our guidance on offensive language across our output.

"Every organisation should be able to acknowledge when it has made a mistake. We made one here."

His statement followed high-level discussions with BBC colleagues on Sunday morning.

'Sorry episode'


In addition to the 18,600 complaints made to the BBC over the news report, broadcast regulator Ofcom said it received 384 complaints.

It makes the broadcast the second-most complained about since the BBC began using its current system in 2017.

Commenting on Sunday, Larry Madowo, US correspondent for the BBC's World Service, said that he had previously not been allowed to use the racist term in an article when quoting an African American.

"But a white person was allowed to say it on TV because it was 'editorially justified'," he tweeted.




Labour's shadow equalities minister Marsha de Cordova said the BBC's reasons for using the N-word were "obviously not good enough".

Speaking before Lord Hall made his statement, Ms de Cordova called on the broadcaster to apologise and "learn from this whole sorry episode".

She was echoed by Labour MP Dawn Butler, who posted her support for Sideman on Twitter, saying the BBC should have apologised rather than "doubled down" on its justification.

Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy praised Lord Hall's intervention but added that "once again it has taken a direct intervention by the DG to overturn a mistake on race previously defended by the BBC's editorial policy managers".

He added: "Obviously they should also go back to Sideman and ask him to take back his resignation and put him back on air - if anything I'd promote him."

On Saturday, a spokesperson for 1Xtra called Sideman "incredibly talented", adding that the station was "disappointed" he had decided to resign.

"We absolutely wish him well for the future. The door is always open for future projects," the spokesperson added.

'Extreme nature'


The Points West story broadcast last month described an attack on a 21-year-old NHS worker and musician known as K or K-Dogg, who was hit by a car on 22 July while walking to a bus stop from his workplace, Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

K-Dogg suffered serious injuries including a broken leg, nose and cheekbone in the attack.

Police said the incident was being treated as racially aggravated due to the racist language used by the occupants of the car. A fourth man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder last week.

In its initial defence, the BBC said the decision to report the racial slur had not been taken lightly and that it understood people would be upset.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×