An allegation that Bafta’s trustees broke charity law by accepting free guest tickets is being assessed by the Charity Commission.
Michael Pritchett, speaking at Bafta’s annual general meeting earlier this week, claimed that trustees had received free tickets for its awards ceremonies for up to 20 years.
Pritchett, chair of Bafta’s membership council, said he paid for legal advice and was subsequently told that charity law may have been breached.
“Each trustee was given a free ticket to the film awards, the television awards and the games awards, and a second free ticket for a guest,” Pritchett said.
“Every one of them was money the charity gave away.”
Pritchett estimated a second ticket at the film awards would sell for £2,000 and referred to Bafta’s memorandum which stated that no trustee may receive “any remuneration or other benefit in money or money's worth from the academy”.
He added that the guest tickets were “top-table” seats.
In response to the claims, a Bafta spokesperson said that its trustees are invited to attend events in a working capacity to represent the academy as ambassadors.
“Prior to 2025 they could also bring a ‘plus one’ guest to accompany them,” they said.
“In 2025, Bafta decided to review its guest tickets arrangements and discontinued the long-standing custom and practice of trustees inviting a plus one.
“The board has since established an independent review group to consider the historic guest ticket arrangement – the review is underway.”
Bafta made a serious incident report to the commission in line with the regulator’s guidance.
A commission spokesperson said: “We're aware of an alleged breach of charity law by Bafta and are assessing the information available to us to determine any appropriate regulatory action or response.”
Concern raised over Bafta’s accounts
Pritchett said that the Bafta board deserved recognition for stopping the practice of free guest tickets, but flagged concerns about its accounts.
Bafta’s accounts for 2025 and 2024 stated that “no trustees received any remuneration during the year for their services to the charity”.
But Pritchett said that his legal counsel advised that offences under the Charities Act and Companies Act were “likely to have been committed” by trustees who approved these accounts.
He also stated that the free tickets were likely to have been taxable and Bafta potentially subject to national insurance payments from 2016.
“Bafta has not told me that anything has ever been reported,” Pritchett said. “So I can’t assure you whether it has or hasn’t.”
He urged the charity to “correct the accounts, open the records to the committee as the rules require, and put elected members back at the strategy day table”.
