YouTube prankster interrupts Oppenheimer’s best picture Bafta

A YouTuber known for infiltrating awards ceremonies managed to get on stage while the Oppenheimer team was receiving their award

During the Bafta film awards in London on Sunday, a “social media prankster” stormed the stage during the best picture presentation. Bafta issued a statement saying, “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.”

On BBC One, footage showed a man in a dark suit walking onto the stage while Oppenheimer producer Emma Thomas was delivering her acceptance speech, flanked by the film’s director, Christopher Nolan, and lead actor, Cillian Murphy. The man stood behind Thomas during her speech before leaving the stage with the filmmakers. Bafta stated that he was then detained by security.

The individual identified as the prankster on social media goes by the name Lizwani on YouTube. The same user shared on Instagram that police had confiscated some of his footage. Lizwani has a track record of infiltrating awards ceremonies, including the Fifa Ballon d’Or and Brit Awards in 2022.

Although Bafta has not experienced stage invasions in the past, the Oscars have had their share, including the memorable appearance of a streaker in 1974 while David Niven was about to introduce another presenter.

Bafta has reported that the TV broadcast of the awards show attracted its highest audience since 2020, peaking at 3.8 million viewers.