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\n Keeping pace with Hollywood\u2019s awards horserace. Sign up for the newsletter here<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Photo: Stuart Wilson\/BAFTA\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n 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\u2019s who inspired BAFTA winner I Swear, shouted the N-word while Sinners<\/a> stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting onstage. \u201cWe take the duty of care to all our guests very seriously and start from a position of inclusion,\u201d BAFTA said in its public apology. \u201cWe 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.\u201d They added that \u201cwe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson himself put out a statement as well. \u201cI wanted to thank BAFTA and everyone involved in the awards last night for their support and understanding and inviting me to attend the broadcast,\u201d Davidson said, per Variety<\/a>. \u201cI 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.\u201d He added that \u201cI am, and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, the BBC<\/a> 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. \u201cSome viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards,\u201d the BBC said in its statement. \u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s Shadow, said \u201cFree Palestine\u201d during his acceptance speech, per Variety<\/a>, and it was cut from the later broadcast.<\/p>\n Following the ceremony, Lindo told Vanity Fair<\/a> at the Warner Bros. afterparty that he and Jordan \u201cdid what we had to do\u201d while presenting. He added that he wished \u201csomeone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n During the BAFTAs, host Alan Cumming apologized for Davidson\u2019s words. \u201cYou may have heard some strong and offensive language tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you have seen the film I Swear, you will know that film is about the experience of a person with Tourette\u2019s syndrome. Tourette\u2019s syndrome is a disability, and the tics you have heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette\u2019s syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you were offended.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinners\u2019s production designer, Hannah Beachler, responded on X to the BAFTAs in-ceremony apology, as delivered by Cumming<\/a>. She shared that she was also called the N-word offscreen along with another Black woman. \u201cThe 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,\u201d she wrote. \u201cAnd 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 \u2018if you were offended.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson was at the ceremony for I Swear, a biographical drama following his life as a child with Tourette\u2019s in the \u201980s, which won its star, Robert Aramayo, a BAFTA<\/a>. Davidson reportedly left the ceremony after about 25 minutes, per The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, of his own accord. \u201cThey\u2019re tics, he [Davidson] is ticking, and we have to understand that the way we perceive Tourette\u2019s is a joint responsibility,\u201d Aramayo told BBC News<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not shouting obscenities; it\u2019s not being abusive. It\u2019s Tourette\u2019s, and they\u2019re tics. So if it can lead to a deeper understanding of Tourette\u2019s syndrome and what tics actually are, if our movie is a part of that conversation, then that\u2019s a really incredible thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keeping pace with Hollywood\u2019s awards horserace. Sign up for the newsletter here. Photo: Stuart Wilson\/BAFTA\/Getty Images The British…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[16950,74327,153586,458,134417,146,12638,2990,85,46,67941,64424,43,3120,154266,154265],"class_list":{"0":"post-306822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-awards-season","9":"tag-bafta","10":"tag-baftas-2026","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-delroy-lindo","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-gold-rush","15":"tag-i-swear","16":"tag-il","17":"tag-israel","18":"tag-john-davidson","19":"tag-michael-b-jordan","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-robert-aramayo","22":"tag-the-bbc","23":"tag-tourettes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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