The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri goes viral with ‘alarmed’ reaction to Prince William’s joke at the Baftas

Edebiri was among the EE Rising Star nominees

A photo of Prince William at the 2024 Baftas has gone viral thanks to the “alarmed” reactions of the group of actors he was speaking to.

Following Sunday’s (18 February) ceremony, The Prince of Wales made his way backstage to congratulate the EE Rising Star nominees, comprising The Bear’s Ayo Edibiri, Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton), Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me), Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) and Mia McKenna Bruce (How to Have Sex). Bruce went on to triumph in the category, which is voted on by the public.

In a portion of their interaction filmed and uploaded to X, William can be seen shaking all of their hands before he tells them: “Very nice to see you guys.

“Honestly, like the category was so strong – all of you – it was like who’s going to pull this off. It was incredible. It was very close between all of you,” he says.

In a still captured of the interaction, William is shown laughing violently while the rising stars offer a range of reactions.

“I am simply beginning you all to look at this photo of Ayo Edebiri meeting Prince William at the Baftas,” one person tweeted alongside the photo.

“Welcoming Ayo as a Board member to the Please Don’t Expect Me to Control My Face club,” a second quipped, with a third writing that “they all looked alarmed”.

“They all looked pained in their own way,” another added.

This year’s Baftas belonged to Oppenheimer and Yorgos Lanthimos’s sci-fi comedy Poor Things, as both films dominated the top categories.

Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb epic ended the night with seven wins, including Best Director, Best Film, Best Leading Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

As the Oppenheimer team – director Nolan, star Cillian Murphy, and producers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven – took the stage to accept the final prize of the night for Best Film, a social media prankster gatecrashed the moment.

A Bafta spokesperson later told The Independent in a statement: “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.”

Find the full list of Bafta winners here.