David Tennant's monologue at the 2025 BAFTA Awards featured several jokes about Donald Trump that were cut from the BBC’s broadcast.
The ceremony, which is pre-recorded two hours before airing, runs for three hours but is edited down to two, leading to the removal of certain segments.
While Tennant’s line about Trump’s hair—comparing it to the bold architecture in The Brutalist—made it into the broadcast, the following joke about Trump was cut.
Speaking to the crowd, Tennant quipped: “Donald Trump, he says he hasn’t seen The Apprentice because it’s a 15. It’s not on Nickelodeon.
Adding: “Donald Trump… I’m worried. I’ve said his name three times. It’s like ‘Beetlejuice’—I’ve summoned him.”
The monologue then moved on to discuss villains, mentioning films like Nosferatu and Heretic.
In addition, several jokes about the film Conclave, including a comparison to Pop Idol and a humorous remark about Stanley Tucci’s expertise with bellinis, were also omitted.
However, the BBC later uploaded the full version of Tennant’s monologue online, where these jokes were restored, giving fans the opportunity to watch the complete unedited performance.
A BBC spokesperson said of the jokes being omitted from Sunday night’s broadcast: “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.”
Elsewhere, Zoe Saldana’s sweary acceptance speech during the ceremony was noticeably cut-short from the BBC’s broadcast after she won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Netflix musical Emilia Pérez.
Meanwhile, US stars Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison were among the big winners at the Bafta film awards as they triumphed in the acting categories.
Brody, 51, won the best actor award for his role in The Brutalist as a Hungarian-Jewish architect, while Madison, 25, won for her role in Anora, about a sex worker who falls for a Russian oligarch’s son.
This year’s ceremony saw The Brutalist and papal drama Conclave tie with four wins each, including wins for outstanding British film, best film and editing for Conclave, while The Brutalist took home the directing gong with a win for Brady Corbet.
Hosted by Doctor Who star David Tennant for the second consecutive year, and held at the Royal Festival Hall at London’s Southbank Centre, the ceremony also saw wins for Succession star Kieran Culkin.
Culkin, 42, won for his role in Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy drama A Real Pain, about two cousins who explore their Jewish grandmother’s roots in Poland. Succession star Culkin did not attend the ceremony on Sunday, and his co-star and the film’s director Eisenberg accepted on his behalf, joking that it was “like the fifth” one he has done for the actor.
During the ceremony, Bafta fellowship honouree Warwick Davis, 55, was presented his award by his Harry Potter co-star, Tom Felton.
A film was shown of Davis’s collaborators including Star Wars’ Mark Hamill and director George Lucas, and Willow director Ron Howard, along with his two children.
An emotional Davis paid tribute to his wife Samantha, who died last year, and thanked his children for their support.
Elsewhere, animated film Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl was named the winner of the children’s and family film award, as well as taking home the animated film gong.
Another winner was Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, which won the first award of the night when it scored the prize for special visual effects.
Stars of Netflix film Emilia Perez, Gomez and Saldana, presented the outstanding debut by a British writer, director, and producer award to Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt.
Popular musical Wicked, which had seven nominations, among them a best actress nod for Cynthia Erivo and a supporting actress nod for Ariana Grande, only won in two categories, namely costume design and production design.
