The organizers of the BAFTAs, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, always want their show to be remembered as a celebration of moviemaking. But Sunday’s ceremony instead drew attention for a shout of a racist slur that shocked viewers in the auditorium and was broadcast to millions of viewers.
It will also be remembered for the fact that the BBC did not edit the prerecorded show to remove the slur, and that BAFTA organizers did not confront the remark at the time.
The BBC said on Monday that the slur, an involuntary utterance by a man with Tourette’s syndrome as two Black stars were onstage, would be removed from the recording on its streaming platform.
But Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black studies at Birmingham City University in England, said in an interview that the original broadcast showed a complete misunderstanding of how offensive the term is and how it has been used for centuries to demean and dehumanize Black people.
“If this was the Oscars, it wouldn’t be broadcast,” Andrews said. “I do think Britain has a problem with understanding race and racism.”
He said that John Davidson, the person with Tourette’s who involuntarily shouted the term, would surely have preferred that it was edited out. “It’s not fair to him,” Andrews said. “It’s not his fault.”
Here’s what to know about the episode and its fallout.
What happened at the BAFTAs?
Davidson was in the audience for the BAFTAs ceremony because a movie based on his life, “I Swear,” was in the running for several awards.
Davidson involuntarily shouted curse words throughout the show. Then, when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo appeared onstage to present an award, Davidson shouted the racist slur, leaving the audience in stunned silence.
Jordan and Lindo star in “Sinners,” a movie set in the Jim Crow South that critics have acclaimed for its innovative storytelling that touches on centuries of Black experience. The movie received 13 nominations for this year’s BAFTAs, including for best film, and Jordan was nominated for best actor.
Davidson left the auditorium shortly after the incident, although he returned later to see Robert Aramayo win the best actor prize for his portrayal of Davidson in “I Swear.”
The BBC broadcasts the BAFTAs in Britain on a delay, and the slur remained when the show aired. Clips of Davidson’s shout soon appeared on social media, and numerous people including movie stars reacted with shock and incredulity.
The actor Wendell Pierce said online that it didn’t matter why someone had shouted the slur. “It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full-throated apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan,” Pierce said.
Representatives for Jordan and Lindo did not respond to interview requests on Monday. But on Sunday night, Lindo told Vanity Fair magazine that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” when presenting the award. Lindo added that he had wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.”
How did the BAFTAs respond?
Alan Cumming, the show’s host, did not directly address Davidson’s use of the racist term, but twice explained to the audience that Davidson had Tourette’s and that his comments throughout were involuntary. “We apologize if you are offended tonight,” Cumming said at one point.
On Monday, BAFTA apologized to Jordan and Lindo in a statement, praising “their incredible dignity and professionalism.”
“We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologize to all,” the statement said.
The BBC, which broadcast the ceremony in Britain, apologized in a statement for not editing out the racist slur “prior to broadcast.” The statement did not mention Jordan and Lindo.
Hannah Beachler, the production designer for “Sinners” and “Black Panther,” wrote online that Davidson had also directed a racist slur at her. “I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation,” Beachler said. “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.’”
What is Tourette’s?
Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological condition that starts in childhood and causes involuntary tics, including movements and vocalizations. The Tourette Association of America estimates that one in every 160 children in the United States has the condition.
Prominent figures who have discussed having Tourette’s include the musicians Billie Eilish and Lewis Capaldi.
Stephen Jackson, a researcher into the condition at the University of Nottingham who has worked with Davidson, said that in about a fifth of cases people with Tourette’s also have coprolalia, meaning that they involuntarily make obscene and offensive remarks, including racist comments.
“You don’t have any say in what you shout,” Jackson said, adding that Davidson would have found his own remarks upsetting.
Edward Palmer, a doctor who has Tourette’s and is a trustee of the British nonprofit Tourette’s Action, said in an interview that he understood how much upset the slur at the BAFTAs had caused. He called it “the most acute example” imaginable of how Tourette’s can cause a person to utter words that offend others.
Palmer said he hoped the episode could become a chance for people to learn more about Tourette’s and gain empathy for those with it.
Representatives for “I Swear” did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Who is John Davidson?
Davidson came to widespread attention in Britain in 1989, when, aged 15, he featured in a television documentary called “John’s Not Mad.” In the show, he discussed his tics and said they had made his life challenging.
“Tourette’s is such an awful condition,” Davidson told the BBC last year. “I don’t want to be the center of attention,” he added. “I want to be able to walk down the street and not be noticed because I’m shouting and swearing.”
In recent years, Davidson, who has a severe version of the syndrome, has become a figurehead for British people with Tourette’s and has tried to raise awareness of the condition. In 2019, Queen Elizabeth II honored him for his advocacy work, although he shouted an expletive at her during that ceremony. (“She was very good about it,” he recently told The Times of London.)
“I Swear,” which was released in Britain last year and is scheduled to reach U.S. theaters in April, has further raised his profile. British critics gave the movie rave reviews, with Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian calling it “funny, fierce and full of heart.”
Davidson details in his autobiography, “I Swear: My Life With Tourette’s,” numerous times when the syndrome caused him to shout offensive language in public, including an incident in which he said an antisemitic slur in a restaurant. “I’m not racist — you have to believe me when I say that,” Davidson wrote after recalling that incident. “Because that’s what it does,” he said of Tourette’s: “It finds anything to provoke the ultimate shock and offense.”
In a statement on Monday, Davidson, who is white, said that his tics were “not a reflection of my personal beliefs,” adding that he was “deeply mortified” if anyone thought they were intentional.
How has the public reacted?
The fallout from the show on social media has been especially vociferous because the BBC edited other elements of the show, including lengthy walks to the stage for some award winners and onstage speeches, including part of one in which the filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. said, “Free Palestine.”
There has also been heavy criticism of BAFTA for the absence of an apology to Jordan, Lindo and all of the other Black artists in the room.
Shayla Amamiya, a Black woman with Tourette’s, said on TikTok that the episode was “very sad,” adding that she had also involuntarily said the racist slur uttered at the ceremony. “It is OK to be offended,” she said of the BAFTA incident. “What is not OK to do is to be ableist.”
Andrews, the academic, said he could not fathom why the BBC hadn’t edited out the slur.
“I mean that’s basic, right?” he said. “It seems to be so obvious.”
Eleanor Stanford contributed reporting.
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