On 22 February, a whole catalogue of A-list celebrities descended on the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre for the 79th Annual BAFTA awards. However, in a moment that the BBC failed to edit out – even though the ceremony aired two hours after it was filmed – the Scottish campaigner for Tourette syndrome, John Davidson, was heard shouting a racial slur as the stars of Sinners, Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan took to the stage to present the evening’s first award.
Davidson attended the BAFTA ceremony to celebrate the film I Swear, which depicts his experience with Tourette’s, and raises awareness about its origins and manifestations. After his words became motivation for people to perpetuate their own racist ideologies online, he issued a statement to emphasise that his words and actions are by no means a reflection of his beliefs. He said, “whilst I will never apologize for having Tourette syndrome, I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.” The BAFTAs have apologised for the “incomparable trauma and pain” caused by the aired offensive language, while the host of the event, Alan Cummings, apologised “for all the pain Black people have felt hearing that word echoed around the world,” and equally for the blatant “lack of understanding and tolerance” towards those with Tourette’s.
The problem lies not with what was said, it lies with the way that the situation was dealt, or more fittingly, not dealt with, in the fallout. Davidson has since said that he chose to remove himself – from the ceremony to which he was formally invited to celebrate a film about his own life – while Lindo explained that he wished that someone from the BAFTAs would have addressed himself and Jordan afterwards. Similarly, Lindo and Jordan’s Sinners co-star Wunmi Mosaku was subject to the same racial slur while accepting her best supporting actress award, but this instance wasn’t aired. She has since said that she was left in tears by the moment and questioned the lack of “protection for everyone” involved. In fact, she has stated that she has “no hard feelings towards John Davidson at all” and that BAFTA “has a lot of lessons to learn.” As for the BBC, Mosaku has expressed her disbelief in their failure to remove the racial slur aimed at her co-stars, and that she is uncertain whether she will be able to forgive it.
I must say, I greatly respect Lindo and Jordan’s incredible professionalism under such uncertain circumstances. The BBC’s failure to remove the racial slur demonstrates a clear lack of care and organisation, especially when certain practices of free speech, such as filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr.’s call to “Free Palestine,” were nixed from the final edit. This leaves us to only question what the BBC’s true priorities are.
Furthermore, it is more important than ever that we remember that Tourette’s tics are neurological, not intentional, and Davidson must not be villainised for words that he cannot control. However, this is not a moment to be dismissed, it is a moment for both the BBC and the BAFTAs to learn and be more considerate of the wellbeing of all their guests. Equally, it is important that we, as viewers, truly take into consideration the messages of I Swear: that compassion and understanding for people with Tourette’s goes a long way.
“British Academy Film Awards” by Tom Morris is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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The BAFTAs Controversy: Where Do the BBC’s Priorities Lie?
On 22 February, a whole catalogue of A-list celebrities descended on the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre for the 79th Annual BAFTA awards. However, in a moment that the BBC failed to edit out – even though the ceremony aired two hours after it was filmed – the Scottish campaigner for Tourette syndrome, John Davidson, was heard shouting a racial slur as the stars of Sinners, Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan took to the stage to present the evening’s first award.
Davidson attended the BAFTA ceremony to celebrate the film I Swear, which depicts his experience with Tourette’s, and raises awareness about its origins and manifestations. After his words became motivation for people to perpetuate their own racist ideologies online, he issued a statement to emphasise that his words and actions are by no means a reflection of his beliefs. He said, “whilst I will never apologize for having Tourette syndrome, I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.” The BAFTAs have apologised for the “incomparable trauma and pain” caused by the aired offensive language, while the host of the event, Alan Cummings, apologised “for all the pain Black people have felt hearing that word echoed around the world,” and equally for the blatant “lack of understanding and tolerance” towards those with Tourette’s.
The problem lies not with what was said, it lies with the way that the situation was dealt, or more fittingly, not dealt with, in the fallout. Davidson has since said that he chose to remove himself – from the ceremony to which he was formally invited to celebrate a film about his own life – while Lindo explained that he wished that someone from the BAFTAs would have addressed himself and Jordan afterwards. Similarly, Lindo and Jordan’s Sinners co-star Wunmi Mosaku was subject to the same racial slur while accepting her best supporting actress award, but this instance wasn’t aired. She has since said that she was left in tears by the moment and questioned the lack of “protection for everyone” involved. In fact, she has stated that she has “no hard feelings towards John Davidson at all” and that BAFTA “has a lot of lessons to learn.” As for the BBC, Mosaku has expressed her disbelief in their failure to remove the racial slur aimed at her co-stars, and that she is uncertain whether she will be able to forgive it.
I must say, I greatly respect Lindo and Jordan’s incredible professionalism under such uncertain circumstances. The BBC’s failure to remove the racial slur demonstrates a clear lack of care and organisation, especially when certain practices of free speech, such as filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr.’s call to “Free Palestine,” were nixed from the final edit. This leaves us to only question what the BBC’s true priorities are.
Furthermore, it is more important than ever that we remember that Tourette’s tics are neurological, not intentional, and Davidson must not be villainised for words that he cannot control. However, this is not a moment to be dismissed, it is a moment for both the BBC and the BAFTAs to learn and be more considerate of the wellbeing of all their guests. Equally, it is important that we, as viewers, truly take into consideration the messages of I Swear: that compassion and understanding for people with Tourette’s goes a long way.
“British Academy Film Awards” by Tom Morris is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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