It was the clip heard around the world after Sunday night’s BAFTA ceremony in London — a man yelling the n-word as two celebrated Black actors, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, presented an award on stage.
The man was John Davidson, the subject of the British indie film “I Swear,” about a man with Tourette syndrome. Davidson, who has long campaigned for awareness of the condition, told CNN before the ceremony that he was worried about the involuntary tics that mark it.
The actor Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson in the film, went on to win the night’s award for best actor. Davidson said the young English actor studied him closely, asking questions like, “When you have a tic do you know where it comes from? What about tic triggers?” Speaking on the crowded red carpet, Davidson went on: “Certain things — like today, lots of people around, I’m feeling very, you know, more tics in case I lash out. Different situations can trigger different emotions and tics and stuff.”
The audience had been warned before the ceremony that tics or involuntary swearing could occur, and Davidson received large applause inside the hall. After the incident, host Alan Cumming asked for “understanding” for the “strong and offensive language.” He reminded the crowd that Tourette syndrome was a disability and tics were involuntary, and said: “We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
Contacted by CNN on Sunday, the BBC, which airs the ceremony with a long delay, reiterated that message. On Monday, a spokesperson apologized that the BBC did not edit the slur “prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Lindo, in particular, looked stunned at the outburst, and then moved on with the ceremony, where he and Jordan presented the first award of the evening — for special visual effects to “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Hannah Beachler, the Oscar-nominated production designer on “Sinners,” said in a thread on X that another outburst during the night was directed at her.
“I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation,” Beachler wrote. “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’ at the end of the show.”
“I am not steal (sic), this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it,” wrote Beachler, who won an Oscar for production design in 2019 for her work on “Black Panther,” becoming the first Black person to do so.
Later Monday, BAFTA also apologized for the incident, noting in a statement the “very offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many.” They apologized in particular to Jordan and Lindo and thanked them “for their incredible dignity and professionalism.”
They also thanked Davidson for his “dignity and consideration of others,” noting that he chose to leave the auditorium during the ceremony.
“We will learn from this,” the organization said.
Davidson confirmed his departure in his own statement Monday, saying, “I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”
Davidson thanked BAFTA and “everyone involved in the awards last night,” saying the announcements made and applause he received made him feel “welcomed and understood in an environment that would normally be impossible for me.”
His tics, he said, were “involuntary and not a reflection of my personal beliefs,” adding that he was and has always been “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”
The question of apologies is raised in “I Swear,” which makes the case that Davidson cannot spend his life apologizing for words and actions he cannot prevent and has no control over. The screenplay draws a comparison to a blind man knocking someone over in a bar: should they be held responsible for their actions and made to apologize? One of the questions now is whether it was right for Cumming to apologize — clumsily, at that — to the room on Davidson’s behalf.
Source: CNN
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