BAFTA has released a full apology after a man with Tourette’s shouted a racial slur at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they presented the award for best visual effects on Sunday night.
“Our guests heard very offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many,” the statement began. “We want to acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all.”
Headlines from Britain’s biggest night for film have focused on the painful moment that a Tourette’s campaigner, John Davidson, was heard shouting the N-word at Sinners twosome Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo as they took to the stage to present the BAFTA for best visual effects. The BBC has apologized for the “strong and offensive language” and for not cutting the racial slur from its final broadcast, which aired on a two-hour delay.
Davidson is the inspiration behind Kirk Jones’ I Swear. It follows a man, played by Robert Aramayo — who, in a real upset, took home best actor for his performance in the film over the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothee Chalamet — in his struggle growing up with Tourette’s syndrome. The condition is characterized by sudden, involuntary, and repetitive movements or sounds, called “tics.” They can manifest as loud swearing or other outbursts, which BAFTA attendees were warned about ahead of the show Sunday night.
The Scotsman left the room around 25 minutes into the show (of his own accord, The Hollywood Reporter understands), after various outbursts, including the slur and “Shut the fuck up” when BAFTA chair Sara Putt made her introductory remarks. The Hollywood Reporter took a deep dive into how the events unfolded on the night here.
Following a swathe of online backlash over Davidson’s outbursts and negative press attention surrounding the neurological condition, U.K. charity Tourette’s Action issued a statement on Instagram in defence of the activist, maintaining that his statements are “not a reflection of a person’s beliefs, intentions, or character.” They wrote: “The backlash from certain parts of the media has been extremely saddening, particularly given how hard John works to raise awareness and understanding.”
And after hours of silence through Monday, BAFTA asked THR to run their statement on the matter in full. See below.
At the BAFTA Film Awards last night, our guests heard very offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many. We want to acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all.
One of our guests, John Davidson MBE, has Tourette Syndrome and has devoted his life to educating and campaigning for better understanding of this condition. Tourette Syndrome causes involuntary verbal tics, that the individual has no control over. Such tics are in no way a reflection of an individual’s beliefs and are not intentional. John Davidson is an executive producer of the BAFTA nominated film, I Swear, which is based on his life experience.
We take the duty of care to all our guests very seriously and start from a position of inclusion. We took measures to make those in attendance aware of the tics, announcing to the audience before the ceremony began, and throughout, that John was in the room and that they may hear strong language, involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony.
Early in the ceremony a loud tic in the form of a profoundly offensive term was heard by many people in the room. Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage at the time, and we apologise unreservedly to them, and to all those impacted. We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism.
During the ceremony, John chose to leave the auditorium and watch the rest of the ceremony from a screen, and we would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.
We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologise to all. We will learn from this, and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy.
