This weekend saw the British Bafta Awards, described as the British equivalent of the Oscars. When the “Sinners” actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award, the N-word could be heard shouting, among other things, in the audience. Jordan and Lindo paused in their speech and then continued to introduce the nominees.
The man who screamed is John Davidson, a man with Tourette’s syndrome who was at the gala showing the film “I Swear.” The film is a biographical account of his life and experiences with Tourette’s. He is played by Robert Aramayo, who won Best Actor for the role later that evening.
Davidson is also said to have said words such as “shut up,” “bullshit” and “fuck” several times during various speeches. The gala’s host, Alan Cumming, made two statements explaining that the words came from a person with Tourette’s syndrome and that the tics were involuntary. “We apologize if we have offended anyone,” Cumming said.
Now the BBC and Bafta have done it He was heavily criticized for his handling of the situation.
The gala was not broadcast live, but was edited and broadcast with a two-hour delay. However, instead of cutting out the N-word, other parts were edited out, such as when director Akinola Davis Jr. said “free Palestine” in his acceptance speech and when director Paul Thomas Anderson said the word “piss,” according to Deadline.
A BBC spokesman said the corporation apologized for not editing out the word before broadcast and that it will be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer. According to The Guardian, those in charge of editing the ceremony must have been on a broadcast bus and not heard the N-word.
The BBC is criticized for this a “dumb” excuse. Guardian columnist Catherine Shoard writes that “the error lay in the editing of the ceremony, or rather the lack thereof.”
Jury member Jonte Richardsson has now resigned from his position as a judge on the BAFTA jury for new talent. He wrote on Linkedin: “The handling of the unfortunate N-word incident last night was completely inexcusable. I cannot and will not contribute to an organization that has repeatedly failed to protect the dignity of its Black guests.”
Bafta wrote on its website: “We would like to draw attention to the harm this has caused and apologize to everyone.”
Tourette’s activist John Davidson himself said in a statement that he would be “deeply dismayed if anyone believes that my involuntary tics are intentional or have any meaning.” He says he decided to leave the ceremony early “because I was aware of the discomfort my tics were causing.” He also says that he feared something like this could happen before.
