BBC star blasts Bafta ‘bias’ after awards snub

He was the star of last year’s acclaimed TV drama apple Tree Yard but has now made an astonishing attack on Bafta for overlooking the BBC show for any awards.

actor Ben Chaplin, 47, claims he was personally snubbed by the organisation because he isn’t a member.

The British academy of Film and Television arts, which has 7,580 members who pay a £150 joining fee and £450 each year, hosts an annual awards ceremony to celebrate the industry.

‘They asked me to join and I said no,’ Chaplin told me at a south Kensington party.

‘Now they overlook me for awards. apple Tree didn’t receive a gong even though it was so popular.’

In the show, Chaplin plays a mysterious man who charms Dr Yvonne Carmichael, played by emily watson, into having an affair. ‘awards are all political,’ he fumes. ‘I don’t want to be a member of Bafta.

‘The only reason I didn’t join is because loads of people I know loathe it, it’s all political.

‘It’s like the Hollywood Foreign Press association in america or the Golden Globes; you have to stand there getting your picture taken with a load of stinky fakes. I’m not doing that.’

Chaplin has enjoyed a successful acting career including a starring role opposite Lily James in Cinderella and in The Truth about Cats & Dogs with Uma Thurman.

‘anyone you’ve seen with a Golden Globe nomination stood there with hundreds of freaks. I just can’t do it. It seems the same with Bafta but then I wouldn’t know — I’ve never been nominated. I don’t play the game — you have to kiss their a**e.’

a spokesman for Bafta tells me: ‘It is absolutely not a prerequisite to be a member of Bafta to receive an award from us. we absolutely judge on merit.’