BBC Apologises After Uncensored N-Word Airs On Radio 1

The BBC has issued an apology for inadvertently broadcasting a racial slur twice in one day on Radio 1.

Earlier this month, Radio 1 producers put together a Newsbeat package about the new Super Mario movie, which was soundtracked by a song from the rapper Childish Gambino.

However, the clip of the song, which aired at 12.45pm, contained an uncensored use of the N-word, which went undetected before it was aired again five hours later.

A BBC spokesperson told The Sun: “We are very sorry this was broadcast. We should not have included this clip in this news report, and we removed the clip from Sounds when we realised the error.”

This latest controversy comes just months after the BBC faced widespread condemnation for including another uncensored utterance of the N-word in its coverage of the 2026 Baftas.

During the Baftas ceremony in February, Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson – attending the event alongside the cast and crew of I Swear, which was inspired by his life – experienced an involuntary tic while Sinners actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting on stage, resulting in him shouting the slur from his seat.

After a clip of this was included in the BBC’s broadcast of the event, despite it airing on a two-hour time delay, an investigation was “fast-tracked” by outgoing director-general Tim Davie.

Earlier this month, the BBC’s executive complaints unit concluded that “the inclusion of the N-word in the broadcast (which was also streamed live on iPlayer) was highly offensive, had no editorial justification and represented a breach of the BBC’s editorial standards”, even if the breach in question “was unintentional”.

The morning after the Baftas, chief content officer Kate Phillips sent an internal memo to BBC employees, which read: “The edit team removed another racial slur from the broadcast. This one was aired in error and we would never have knowingly allowed this to be broadcast.

“We take full responsibility for what happened.”