Regina Hall took a moment to recognize Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards, offering a public show of support just days after a controversial incident overseas.
Before presenting the first award of the evening at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Hall paused the program and addressed the crowd directly, asking them to honor the two actors seated in the audience.
“Take a moment to the two kings who are in this audience and just send you so much love for your class,” she said.
Her words prompted an immediate reaction. The audience stood and applauded Jordan and Lindo, creating one of the night’s most powerful moments.
The recognition came shortly after both actors appeared at the BAFTA Awards, where a racial slur was yelled while they were on stage.
As the actors were presenting an award, Tourette’s Syndrome activist John Davidson had an outburst where he yelled out the n-word. The moment also appeared on the BAFTA broadcast two hours the incident, even though Akinola Davies Jr. saying “Free Palestine” during his acceptance speech was edited out, as were other political statements.
Davidson explained to Variety that “my tics have absolutely nothing to do with what I think, feel or believe. It’s an involuntary neurological misfire.”
He claimed also that “BAFTA had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast,” and recalled that there was a microphone near him, despite him being seated forty rows back from the stage.