{"id":313394,"date":"2026-02-23T18:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/313394\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T18:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:29:07","slug":"bafta-apologises-for-profane-outbursts-from-tourette-syndrome-campaigner-john-davidson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/313394\/","title":{"rendered":"BAFTA apologises for profane outbursts from Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAFTA<\/a> has apologised via host Alan Cumming after Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson was heard shouting profane outbursts during this year\u2019s ceremony.<\/p>\n

Davidson has the condition that causes sudden, repetitive sounds or movements \u2013 known as tics \u2013 and is the subject of film I Swear, up for several awards this year.<\/p>\n

During last night\u2019s (February 22) event, he was in attendance \u2013 though at several points during the ceremony was heard shouting profane language, including using the n-word as actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the Best Special Visual Effects award.<\/p>\n

He was also heard shouting \u201cfuck you\u201d as Boong\u2019s directors collected the Best Children\u2019s & Family Film award, and \u201cshut the fuck up\u201d when an introductory speech was made by BAFTA chair Sara Putt.<\/p>\n

Cumming \u2013 who was overseeing this year\u2019s ceremony \u2013 subsequently apologised to audiences, saying: \u201cYou may have noticed some strong language in the background.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can be part of how Tourette\u2019s syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience. Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later echoed this sentiment, saying: \u201cTourette\u2019s Syndrome is a disability and the tics you\u2019ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette\u2019s Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologise if you are offended tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Variety<\/a>, Davidson left the ceremony of his own accord in the second half, and as an \u201cinvited guest\u201d he would have not been asked to leave under any circumstances. The site also reports that the floor manager told audiences before the show that due to Davidson\u2019s Tourette\u2019s, those in attendance \u201cmight hear some involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, his outbursts were left in the eventual BBC broadcast, despite it being on a two-hour delay from the actual ceremony.<\/p>\n

Actor Robert Aramayo\u2019s performance as Davidson provided one of the biggest surprises in BAFTA history <\/a>after he took home the Best Actor award over Hollywood heavyweights such as Leonardo DiCaprio<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet<\/a>. He also won the BAFTA Rising Star Award.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, One Battle After Another<\/a>\u00a0dominated the awards, taking home six gongs including Best Film and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson<\/a>, while Jessie Buckley<\/a> won Best Actress for Hamnet<\/a>. Wunmi Mosaku took home Best Supporting Actress for Sinners<\/a>, the film also winning Best Screenplay and Best Score.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s BAFTAs also showcased a few musical performances, including a rendition of \u2018Golden\u2019<\/a> from hit Netflix animation KPop Demon Hunters<\/a> by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, as well as Jessie Ware<\/a> singing a moving version of Barbra Streisand<\/a>\u2019s \u2018The Way We Were\u2019 for the In Memoriam segment<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAFTA has apologised via host Alan Cumming after Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson was heard shouting profane outbursts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[123266,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-313394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bafta","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}