David Tennant's Trump jokes axed from BAFTA: Here's why
What's the story
The BBC recently edited out several jokes about US President Donald Trump from David Tennant's monologue at the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards.
The ceremony, which took place at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night, was pre-recorded two hours before its broadcast.
Due to time constraints, the final show was trimmed from three hours to two, leading to the removal of certain segments, including several of Tennant's quips about Trump.
Omitted humor
Tennant's Trump jokes that didn't make the cut
Among the axed jokes was one where Tennant compared Trump to Beetlejuice, the supernatural character.
He humorously expressed, "I'm worried. I've said his (Trump) name three times. It's like 'Beetlejuice'—I've summoned him."
Another removed remark referenced The Apprentice, a film featuring Sebastian Stan as a young Trump.
Tennant suggested that Trump likely hadn't seen the movie because "it's a 15 [referring to the UK film rating], and it's not on Nickelodeon."
Final cut
Some Trump-related jokes survived the edit
Despite the massive edits, a few of Tennant's Trump jokes made it to the final broadcast.
One such quip was a playful jab at Trump's unique hairstyle, which Tennant called "the boldest architecture in film this year, apart from Donald Trump's hair in The Apprentice."
Another joke that made it to the broadcast compared Trump to infamous villains like Nosferatu (from the gothic horror film) and Feather McGraw from Wallace and Gromit.
Network response
BBC defended edits as standard procedure
When asked about the edited content, the BBC explained that such trims are normal owing to time constraints.
"The nature of the show is that it's broadcast with a short delay, and edits have to be made due to time constraints," BBC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, at the BAFTAs, Conclave won a total of four awards, including Best Film, tying with The Brutalist, which won awards for Director Brady Corbet and Lead Actor Adrien Brody.