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Photo: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts apologized today for a terrible situation at its February 22 awards show. John Davidson, the activist with Tourette’s who inspired BAFTA winner I Swear, shouted the N-word while Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting onstage. “We take the duty of care to all our guests very seriously and start from a position of inclusion,” BAFTA said in its public apology. “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.” They added that “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.”
Davidson himself put out a statement as well. “I wanted to thank BAFTA and everyone involved in the awards last night for their support and understanding and inviting me to attend the broadcast,” Davidson said, per Variety. “I appreciated the announcement to the auditorium in advance of the recording, warning everyone that my tics are involuntary and are not a reflection of my personal beliefs. I was heartened by the round of applause that followed this announcement and felt welcomed and understood in an environment that would normally be impossible for me.” He added that “I am, and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”
Earlier in the day, the BBC apologized for not editing out the racial slur out when it broadcast the ceremony. The network aired it with no censor on the BBC One broadcast despite being aired on a two-hour delay. “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards,” the BBC said in its statement. “This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologize that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Despite not editing out the racial slur, the BBC did choose to edit out something from its broadcast of the ceremony. Akinola Davies Jr., the director of My Father’s Shadow, said “Free Palestine” during his acceptance speech, per Variety, and it was cut from the later broadcast.
Following the ceremony, Lindo told Vanity Fair at the Warner Bros. afterparty that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while presenting. He added that he wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.”
During the BAFTAs, host Alan Cumming apologized for Davidson’s words. “You may have heard some strong and offensive language tonight,” he said. “If you have seen the film I Swear, you will know that film is about the experience of a person with Tourette’s syndrome. Tourette’s syndrome is a disability, and the tics you have heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette’s syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you were offended.”
Sinners’s production designer, Hannah Beachler, responded on X to the BAFTAs in-ceremony apology, as delivered by Cumming. She shared that she was also called the N-word offscreen along with another Black woman. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” she wrote. “And a third time at a Black woman. I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended.’”
Davidson was at the ceremony for I Swear, a biographical drama following his life as a child with Tourette’s in the ’80s, which won its star, Robert Aramayo, a BAFTA. Davidson reportedly left the ceremony after about 25 minutes, per The Hollywood Reporter, of his own accord. “They’re tics, he [Davidson] is ticking, and we have to understand that the way we perceive Tourette’s is a joint responsibility,” Aramayo told BBC News. “It’s not shouting obscenities; it’s not being abusive. It’s Tourette’s, and they’re tics. So if it can lead to a deeper understanding of Tourette’s syndrome and what tics actually are, if our movie is a part of that conversation, then that’s a really incredible thing.”
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