BAFTA Launches Review of Trustees' Guest Tickets

BAFTA has launched an independent review of a long-standing perk that let its trustees bring a guest to the awards, Deadline reported on 29 October 2026.

The question was raised by Michael Pritchett, an independent film producer who chairs BAFTA's membership council. He raised concerns about trustee benefits at the organisation's annual general meeting. Trustees are the board members who oversee the charity.

Pritchett alleged that trustees received complimentary tickets for themselves and a guest to BAFTA's film, television and games awards. He claimed the custom had continued for up to 20 years. He also said guest top-table tickets for the film awards were potentially worth up to £2,000.

BAFTA's position is that trustees are invited to events in a working capacity, representing the Academy in an ambassadorial role. The organisation stopped offering plus-one tickets to trustees in 2025, after a recommendation from its governance committee.

The historic arrangement is now under examination. BAFTA's board set up an independent review group to consider it, and that work is underway. The group is led by three industry executives, who have not been named.

A Guardian report dated 28 October said trustees may have breached charity and company law by accepting free tickets for their guests. That is a claim about the law, and it has not been tested by the review.

Hilary Rosen, who is BAFTA's new chair, sits among the current trustees. The review will look at the past arrangement, not only the rules in place today.

For anyone who has watched the awards on television, the red carpet and the ceremony are the visible part. The ticketing rules sit behind them, in the governance papers that most viewers never see. This review is about those papers, and about who was entitled to a seat, and for how long.