Siobhán McSweeney’s acceptance speech at the BAFTAs, which aired on Sunday night, May 14, was apparently edited on BBC’s iPlayer to remove her politically charged comment.
“To the people of Derry, thank you for taking me into your hearts and your living rooms,” McSweeney, a native of Co Cork, said in her BAFTA speech after noting that she had been “warned not to do a political statement.”
She continued: “I am daily impressed with how you encompass the spirit of compromise and resilience despite the indignities, ignorance, and stupidity of your so-called leaders in Dublin, Stormont, and Westminster.”
McSweeney’s comment was met with a round of applause from the audience.
She concluded: “In the words of my beloved Sister Michael, ‘It’s time they started to wise up.’”
McSweeney was accepting the Female Performance in a Comedy Programme BAFTA for her role as Sister Michael in the hit show "Derry Girls," which also scooped the Best Scripted Comedy award.
You can watch McSweeney’s unedited BAFTA acceptance speech here:
However, the day after the BAFTAs aired, one Twitter user posted a side-by-side comparison of the official BAFTA video of McSweeney’s acceptance speech and the BBC edit that was posted on the British broadcaster’s iPlayer.
"What actually happened VS what the BBC aired," Twitter user @OhHeyJacob tweeted.
"Tell me again how the BBC is unbiased? Why have they cut that out?"
What actually happened VS what the BBC aired. Tell me again how the BBC is unbiased? Why have they cut that out? @siobhni @scottygb pic.twitter.com/aAz6MeCg6p
— Jacob ?️? (@OhHeyJacob) May 15, 2023
"This should be a scandal of national proportions," Jacob said in a subsequent tweet.
He later added: “For clarity. One is the BAFTA YouTube channel which isn’t BBC affiliated, the other is the BBC edit that they broadcast and put on iPlayer.”
At the time of publication on Monday, Jacob's tweet had been viewed more than 4.2 million times, with plenty of people deeming BBC's apparent edit as censorship.
A BBC spokesperson has since told Variety: “As in previous years, due to the nature of the show it is broadcast with a short delay, and while we always aim to keep the core sentiment of acceptance speeches, edits have to be made due to time constraints.”
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