Bafta comments on social media prankster who crashed Best Film acceptance speech

A man managed to join the ‘Oppenheimer’ team on stage as they accepted the final prize of the night

Baftas has said it is taking things “very seriously” after an alleged social media prankster managed to gatecrash the presentation of the final award of the night.

During last night’s ceremony (Sunday, 18 February), a man dressed in a black suit and tie walked on stage and stood with the Oppenheimer team – director Christopher Nolan, star Cillian Murphy and producers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven – as they accepted the prize for Best Film.

While Nolan, Murphy, Thomas and Rovan, as well as the audience, seemed unfazed by the intruder’s presence, it wasn’t until they all walked off stage that security reportedly detained the man.

“A social media prankster was removed by security last night after joining the winners of the final award on stage – we are taking this very seriously, and don’t wish to grant him any publicity by commenting further,” a Bafta spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent.

The prankster apparently has a history of infiltrating awards shows, which he has shared moments of on his social media accounts.

The 2024 Baftas was a night that belonged to Oppenheimer and Yorgos Lanthimos’s sci-fi comedy Poor Things, as both films dominated the top categories.

‘Oppenheimer’ team win Best Film at Baftas (BBC/ YouTube)

Nolan’s atomic bomb epic, led the night with nominations in 13 categories, of which the film won seven, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Murphy and Robert Downey Jr, the movie’s lead stars, triumphed in the Best Leading Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories respectively.

Meanwhile, Poor Things star Emma Stone took home Best Actress for her performance as Bella, an adult woman implanted with a child’s brain. Lanthimos’s spectacle landed five total wins.

Other nominees such as Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Celine Song’s Past Lives, and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro went home empty-handed.

Find the full list of Bafta winners here.

The show was hosted by Doctor Who’s David Tennant, who divided Bafta audiences with a dry opening monologue.

Later, the ceremony honoured film industry figures who had passed away since last year’s ceremony.

As Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham performed a stripped-down version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time”, images and clips of late stars, including Jane Birkin, Glynis Johns, Carl Weathers, Julian Sands, Tom Wilkinson and Tina Turner, were shown on-screen.

Friends star Matthew Perry, however, was noticeably left out of the In Memoriam package, leading to fan criticism.

Bafta later issued a statement saying Perry’s exclusion was not an oversight but that he would instead be honoured at the Bafta TV awards in May.