Reading time: 3 minutes
As previously mentioned, a man named John Davidson shouted racial slurs Sinners Stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday night.
Davidson has suffered from Tourette syndrome for most of his life, and was in the audience because a film based on his life had been nominated for several awards.
Like many people with Tourette syndrome, Davidson suffers from the syndrome, which is defined as “the involuntary, uncontrollable, and often loud utterance of obscene words, derogatory remarks, or socially inappropriate phrases.”
In other words, Davidson is unable to control his tantrums, and last night’s slurs were involuntary.
But that didn’t stop thousands of social media users and a few public figures from criticizing both Davidson and BAFTA organizers for their alleged mishandling of the situation.
One such public figure is Jamie Foxx, who took to social media to express his frustration.
“Of all the words you could have said, did Tourette’s make you say that?” Foxx wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“No, he meant that shit,” Fox continued (per TMZ), adding: “Unacceptable.”
Davidson apologized for the concert, and host Alan Cummings quickly issued an apology to the audience.
“Tourette syndrome is a disability, and the tics you heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person with Tourette syndrome has no control over their language,” Cummings said, adding:
“We apologize if you felt offended tonight.”
Earlier today BAFTA organizers issued their own apology:
The organization said in a statement: “We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologize to everyone.”
“We will learn from this, and keep inclusion at the core of everything we do, while maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as an important channel for compassion and empathy,” the statement continued.
“We would like to thank him for his dignity and respect for others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.”
Davidson said in his own statement that he was “very afraid if anyone would consider my tics to be intentional or have any meaning.”
He continued: “I was present to celebrate the film My Life I Swear, which explains more than any film or television documentary the origins, condition, characteristics and manifestations of Tourette Syndrome.”
Davidson is clearly terrified by last night’s events. This is obviously a very sensitive topic, but we hope that everyone involved can eventually find some sort of closure.
