Kate Beckinsale slams BAFTA for 'cold' email about late stepfather
UPDATE: 1/19/24 at 12:45 PM ET
A day after Beckinsale shared her frustrations with BAFTA over honoring her late stepfather, the awards show has decided to pay tribute to him at a later ceremony.
“We were very sorry to hear of the recent death of Roy Battersby; he was a renowned and groundbreaking director,” a BAFTA spokesperson said. We weekly on Friday, January 19. “Roy Battersby received the 1996 Alan Clarke Award, a BAFTA Special Television Award. We confirm that he will be honored at our upcoming BAFTA Television Awards in May, and in the In Memoriam section of our website.”
Original story below:
Kate Beckinsale criticizes BAFTA's response regarding the inclusion of her late stepfather, Roy Battersbyin their in memoriam tribute at the 2024 awards ceremony.
“Today BAFTA told me they 'could not guarantee' he would be included in their 'in memoriam' tribute, honoring the industry members we have lost,” Beckinsale, 50, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, January 18, alongside a throwback photo of her and Battersby. “So a man who has been dead less than a week somehow has to audition for a committee after a decades-long career (during which he was awarded the highest honor by said organization) to decide IF his death is worth mentioning is.”
Beckinsale is pictured with her stepfather as he holds his BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) lifetime achievement statue after she presented him with the award in 1996.
The late director, who died earlier this month, was best known for his work in several films and TV shows, including Red Mercury, The home front, Leeds United!, The body and more. This year's BAFTA Awards will take place in London on February 18. The ceremony recognizes the best British and international film contributions each year.
Kate Beckinsale has been a leading lady in some of Hollywood's favorite films for over twenty years, and during that time she's had a handful of personal relationships that made headlines. Early in her career, the Serendipity actress dated Michael Sheen. They were first linked in 1995 and continued throughout their eight-year existence […]
“If his work, his life, his craft, his mentorship, his heart and soul are worth mentioning, he is gone. That broke my heart again,” Beckinsale continued. “I am paralyzed, sick and sick and I will honor him and his work every day of my life.”
The actress shared that alongside her mother, Judy Loe, who is dealing with the loss of her husband, she has also been “quietly recovering from stage four cancer for the past six years.” (Loe, 76, was married to Kate's father, Richard Beckinsalefrom 1977 to 1979 and continued with Battersby in 1997.)
“So thanks again, BAFTA, for your terribly cold email,” Kate concluded.
Kate announced on January 10 that her stepfather died at the age of 87.
“It is with great sadness that the family of film and television director Roy Battersby announces the news of his recent passing after a short period of illness,” she wrote in a statement shared via her Instagram Story. “He passed away peacefully on January 10, 2024, in Los Angeles, surrounded by family, at the age of 87. The funeral will take place in London, details to follow.”
Battersby's death came almost a week after Kate attended the Golden Globes. After the awards ceremony, she visited her stepfather while he was in the hospital.
“Golden Globes 2024 is starting to end,” the actress captioned photos from the awards ceremony, as well as photos as she sat by her stepfather's hospital bed in her sparkling silver dress.