Viewers blast Baftas hosted by Richard E Grant and Alison Hammond

Was that the most ‘cringe’ BAFTAs ever? Viewers blast ‘woke’ awards hosted by ‘nervous’ Richard E. Grant and ‘warbling’ Alison Hammond over the ’embarrassing’ interviews that proved a ‘complete turn-off’

  • Viewers blasted the Baftas as ‘painful to watch’ with ‘unexciting’ nominations
  • Some aimed fire at this year’s hosts Richard E Grant and Alison Hammond 

Viewers have hit out at last night’s Baftas for being ‘really awkward’ after a number of ‘cringe’ moments and blunders left viewers reeling.

The 76th EE British Academy Film Awards saw stars from the acting world gather at the Royal Festival Hall to celebrate the year’s best films.

But those watching at home criticised the show, with some questioning why the awards ‘feel so painful to watch this year’, pointing to the ‘unexciting’ nominations and ‘curiously flat’ format.

West Side Story star Ariana DeBose opened the awards with a rap dedicated to celebrating women, but many were quick to brand the performance ‘painful’ and ‘awkward’ with one asking: ‘Why did this happen?’.

They also aimed fire at this year’s hosts, This Morning presenter Alison Hammond 48, who had been picked to host the star-studded bash, along with Richard E Grant, 65. 

Richard E Grant and Alison Hammond hosted last night’s Baftas at the Royal Festival Hall

Some viewers questioned why the awards ‘feel so painful to watch this year’, pointing to the ‘unexciting’ nominations and ‘curiously flat’ format

Some viewers slammed the choice of presenters for this year’s Bafta awards

While some viewers heaped praise on the ‘stunning’ broadcaster for her ‘utterly fabulous’ hosting skills, saying she made the show ‘easy to watch’.

However, others complained Hammond ‘did not suit the event’ while others said the co-host pairing was like ‘chalk and cheese’. 

One viewer commented: ‘Alison Hammond made we switch off. Utterly pointless daytime TV warbling from someone with no relevant acting heritage.’

Another said: ‘Which woke visionary luvvie put Hammond and Grant together to present last night’s BAFTAS? Cringe-making television .. a complete turn-off – who produced it?

At points during the ceremony, Hammond was sat in an off-stage studio where she interviewed stars including Austin Butler, Emma Thompson and Dame Helen Mirren.

Richard E Grant and Alison Hammond on stage during the Baftas

Viewers give their verdict on last night’s show: Some said it was ‘just cringe’

Some blasted the choice of presenters, saying it made the show ‘cringe’ and ‘painful to watch’ this year

During one poignant moment, Dame Helen paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, who she portrayed in the 2006 biographical drama The Queen. 

Afterwards she spoke to Hammond backstage, but some viewers were less than impressed with the ‘awful and embarrassing’ interview.  

While chatting, Hammond asked Dame Helen: ‘Are we going out tonight by the way? Are we going to an after party?’ but she responded: ‘No, I have to get up at six o’clock in the morning.’

‘No parties tonight?’: Some viewers slammed Alison Hammond’s interview with Dame Helen Mirren after she asked her where she would be celebrating

Hammond pressed: ‘So, no parties tonight?’, to which the award-winning actress replied: ‘No I have to go to Berlin.’

After the interaction, one person tweeting: ‘Can Alison Hammond actually let people speak? What a waste of Helen Mirren. These ‘interviews’ are infuriating.’

Another said: ‘I don’t understand why we needed those pointless segments with Alison, they were so awkward, Helen Mirren actually looked a bit peed off and I don’t understand why she’s come back on stage to present for just four awards.’

Viewers also were left aghast over Ariana DeBose’s ‘cheesy’ rap that celebrated women during the opening of the awards.

Unimpressed: Viewers were left stunned following Ariana DeBose’s opening perfomance at the 76th EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday night 

The 32-year-old, who scooped the Best Supporting Actress gong at last year’s ceremony for West Side Story, took to the stage with a rap about the female nominees. 

The perfomance began with a song as she was joined by dancers who tore off her skirt in impressive scenes, before going on to name check members of the star-studded audience.

Following Ariana’s perfomance one viewer wrote:  ‘P***ing myself laughing at Ariana DeBose’s BAFTA song, why did this happen?’.

With another adding: ‘Absolutely awful she wouldn’t get a ingle turn on [talent show] The Voice’.


No thanks: The star, who scooped the Best Supporting Actress gong at last year’s ceremony for West Side Story, took to the stage with a rap about the female nominees

More agreed writing: ‘It was awful’ and ‘God-awful’.

Another said: ‘Got a lot of time for the celebs who smiled charmingly and awkwardly during Ariana DeBose’s painful BAFTA rap’.

And: ‘Ariana DeBose doing an absurd rap about the women up for things. She is, however such a pro (non more pro) so hardly matters’. 

Little Simz later performed her single Heart On Fire before music legend Joan Armatrading joined her on guitar in a surprise appearance. 

Fans gushed over the duo writing: ‘Electrifying performance from Little Simz and Joan Armatrading’. 

With another adding: ‘Little Simz and Joan Armatrading? That’s more like it!’ and ‘Joan Armatrading is a legend’.

Cringe: Racing to Twitter fans brandished the performance ‘painful’ and ‘awkward’ with one asking: ‘Why did this happen?’

Stage: The perfomance began with a song as she was joined by dancers who tore off her skirt in impressive scenes, before going on to name check members of the star-studded audience 

With a fifth adding: ‘Joan Armatrading playing the guitar and I’m immediately a lot more interested. 

In another excruciating moment, Carey Mulligan was incorrectly named the Best Supporting Actress winner at the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2023 and was halfway to the stage before the mistake was corrected.

The pregnant star, 37, looked ‘visibly shocked’ when the gaffe was made by a sign language interpreter but managed to laugh off the blunder.

Last year’s recipient, CODA star Troy Kotsur, 54, had presented the award using sign language, however the slip-up was edited out of the BBC One broadcast, which was delayed by 30 minutes.

Hilarious: After Kerry accepted the gong, host Richard E Grant joked: ‘A defibrillator needed for Carey Mulligan’

A source in the audience told MailOnline: ‘Carey was a really good sport and laughing about the mix up. She looked visibly shocked when her name was announced.’

Troy had correctly signed that Kerry Condon had won for her role in Banshees of Inisherin, while Carey had been in the running for her Me Too film, She Said.

During the awards, Elvis star Austin Butler was awarded Best Actor at the awards, beating out favourite Colin Farrell in a shock upset.

The actor fought back tears as he paid tribute to the Presley family while accepting the honour, after portraying the late King Of Rock in the Baz Lurhmann biopic.

Thanking all of the crew and team he worked with on the film, Austin admitted he was ‘just trying to take it all in,’ as he fought back tears while accepting the honour. 

‘This means the world to me,’ Butler told the ceremony, still using the Elvis drawl that he learned for Baz Luhrmann’s movie.

He also paid tribute to the Presley family who offered insight into Elvis’ life for the biopic, adding he ‘hopes he made them proud.’

Cate Blanchett was also awarded Best Leading Actress for her performance in the biopic Tar, the film’s only big win of the night.

Tearfully, she accepted the gong as she thanked her mother and director Todd Field, adding that Blanchett also said that 2022 had been an ‘extraordinary year for women’.


Loving it: However later in the show Little Simz (left) impressed audiences with her ‘electrifying’ perfomance as she took to the stage with Joan Armatrading (right) 

She added that it had broken down that women’s experience is not ‘monolithic’, and that her role as Lydia Tar ‘was a dangerous and career-ending potential undertaking’.

Netflix’s German war epic All Quiet On The Western Front was the big winner of the night with a total of seven gongs, including Best Film, while The Banshees of Inisherin was close behind with five, including Best British Film and Best Supporting Actor and Actress respectively. 

The film, which is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, equals Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2001) as the film which is not spoken in the English language with the most nominations in BAFTA’s history.

Directed by Edward Berger, it stars Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow.

During his opening monologue, Richard referenced Will Smith’s infamous slap at last year’s Oscars, telling audiences that ‘on my watch no one gets slapped tonight’.

Smith stormed onto the stage during the 94th annual Academy Awards in March and slapped presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

The actor, who went on to win the coveted best actor Oscar moments later, was later banned from all Academy events for the next 10 years and resigned from the organisation.

Speaking at the Baftas, Grant said that the only slaps being received on Sunday would be ‘on the back’.

‘What a great year to be hosting the Baftas,’ he said.

‘In 2022, movie audiences were well and truly back and there has never been a better time to go to the cinema until right now.’

He added: ‘Well, not right now, I’m trying my best and nobody on my watch gets slapped tonight… except on the back.’

As the ceremony got underway, Carey Mulligan was incorrectly announced as the winner of the Supporting Actress award after a translation gaffe while deaf actor Troy Kotsur was presenting.

Oscar-winner Kotsur was delivering the announcement by sign language before a miscommunication resulted in Mulligan’s name being called for her performance in She Said.

The announcer quickly corrected the call and announced The Banshees Of Inisherin star Kerry Condon as the winner.

Barry Keoghan won Supporting Actor for The Banshees Of Inisherin, and the 30-year-old Irish actor said he ‘should have planned this, really’ before thanking his co-stars and Ireland. 

BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2023: THE WINNERS

BEST FILM 

Acclaim:  Netflix anti-war epic All Quiet On The Western Front

All Quiet On The Western Front – WINNER

The Banshees of Inisherin 

Elvis 

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Tar 

BEST ACTRESS

First nomination: Ana de Armas is up for Leading Actress

Cate Blanchett (Tar) – WINNER

Viola Davis (The Woman King) 

Danielle Deadwyler (Till) 

Ana de Armas (Blonde) 

Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) 

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once 

BEST ACTOR 

In the running: Austin Butler is up for Best Actor for his portrayal of Elvis 

Austin Butler (Elvis) – WINNER

Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) 

Brendan Fraser (The Whale) 

Daryl McCormack (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande) 

Paul Mescal (Aftersun) 

Bill Nighy (Living)  

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM 

Aftersun

The Banshees Of Inisherin – WINNER

Brian and Charles

Empire of Light 

Good Luck to You Leo Grande

Living 

Roald Dahl’s Matilda

See How They Run

The Swimmers

The Wonder 

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER 

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells) – WINNER

Blue Jean (Georgia Oakley, Helene Sifre) 

Electric Malady (Marie Liden) 

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (Katy Brand) 

Rebellion (Maia Kenworthy) 

FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

All Quiet On The Western Front – WINNER

Argentina, 1985

Corsage 

Decision To Leave

The Quiet Girl 

DOCUMENTARY 

All The Breathes

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed 

Fire Of Love

Moonage Daydream 

Navalny – WINNER

ANIMATED FILM  

Pinocchio – WINNER

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On 

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

DIRECTOR 

Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Qua in Everything Everywhere All At Once

All Quiet On The Western Front, Edward Berger – WINNER

The Banshees of Inisherin Martin McDonagh

Decision To Leave, Park Chan-wook 

Everything Everywhere All At Once, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Tar, Todd Field

The Woman King, Gina Prince-Bythewood  

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Banshees of Inisherin – WINNER

Everything Everywhere All At Once 

The Fabelmans 

Tar 

Triangle of Sadness  

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

All Quiet On The Western Front – WINNER

Living 

The Quiet Girl

She Said 

The Whale 

SOUND

All Quiet On The Western Front – WINNER

Avatar: The Way Of Water

Elvis 

Tar 

Top Gun: Maverick  

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION 

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse – WINNER

Middle Watch

Your Mountain Is Waiting  

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 Angela Bassett (Wakanda Forever)

Hong Chau (The Whale) 

Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) – WINNER

Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once) 

Carey Mulligan (She Said) 

SUPPORTING ACTOR 

Shortlisted: Eddie Redmayne is up for Supporting Actor in The Good Nurse

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin) – WINNER

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once) 

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse) 

Albrecht Schuch (All Quiet On The Western Front) 

Micheal Ward (Empire Of Light) 

CASTING 

Triangle of Sadness got a nod in the Casting category 

Aftersun 

All Quiet On The Western Front

Elvis – WINNER

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Triangle Of Sadness  

CINEMATOGRAPHY 

All Quiet On The Western Front – WINNER

The Batman 

Elvis 

Empire Of Light

Top Gun: Maverick  

COSTUME DESIGN 

Costume Design: Margot Robbie in Babylon

All Quiet On The Western Front 

Amsterdam 

Babylon 

Elvis – WINNER

Mrs Harris Goes To Paris  

EDITING 

Sequel: Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick 

 All Quiet On The Western Front 

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once – WINNER 

Top Gun: Maverick  

MAKE UP & HAIR 

All Quiet On The Western Front 

The Batman 

Elvis – WINNER

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical 

The Whale 

ORIGINAL SCORE 

All Quiet On The Western Front – WINNER

Babylon 

The Banshees of Inisherin 

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Pinocchio  

PRODUCTION DESIGN

All Quiet On The Western Front

Babylon – WINNER

The Batman 

Elvis 

Pinocchio 

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS 

Avatar: The Way Of Water is up for Special Visual Effects 

All Quiet On The Western Front

Avatar: The Way Of Water – WINNER

The Batman 

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Top Gun: Maverick 

BRITISH SHORT FILM 

The Ballad Of Olive Morris 

Bazigaga

Bus Girl 

A Drifting Up

An Irish Goodbye – WINNER

EE RISING STAR  

Happy: Nominees Sheila, Naomi and Daryl 

Emma Mackey (Sex Education) – WINNER

Naomie Ackie (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody) 

Sheila Atim (The Woman King) 

Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education) 

Daryl McCormack (Good Luck To You)  

  

 

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