A Tourette’s campaigner, who made racist comments at the BAFTAs, has expressed his deep hurt over the incident.
John Davidson, MBE, attended the awards ceremony after taking inspiration from the film I Swear, which portrays his life as suffering from severe Tourette syndrome.
The condition is characterised by sudden, involuntary, repetitive sounds or movements, known as tics, that cause what Davidson calls inappropriate words.
But this is what happened when he made racial remarks while two Black actors, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, were on stage presenting the first awards of the night.
Davidson has now spoken about the incident, saying that “it hurts me if anyone thinks my involuntary actions were intentional or mean-spirited.
He also praised BAFTA’s organisers.
He also praised the BAFTA organisers for informing the audience about his tics in advance and making it clear that they did not reflect his personal beliefs.
He said, “The thunderous applause after this announcement made me feel very welcome and made me feel welcome and understood in an environment that would normally be impossible for me to receive.”
After Davidson shouted, both artists on stage paused for a moment before continuing the performance.
Robert Aramayo holds his two BAFTA awards. Photo: PA
Davidson said he decided to leave the ceremony early because, “I knew how much trouble my actions were getting me into.”
The host, Alan Cumming, later acknowledged the interruption and explained again about Tourette’s.
In a statement, BAFTA said the insult was a source of “immeasurable shock and pain” for many people and apologised for putting its guests in a “very difficult position.”
The academy statement said: “At the beginning of the ceremony, many people in the room heard a loud noise uttering extremely offensive words.
“Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage at the time, and we apologise unreservedly to him and all those affected. We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism.
“During the ceremony, John decided to leave the auditorium and watch the remainder of the ceremony from a screen, and we would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others during what should have been a night of celebration for him.
“We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologise to everyone.
“We will learn from this and will keep inclusion at the core of everything we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as an important medium for compassion and empathy.”
John Davidson, left, at the BAFTA film nominees party. Photo: Reuters
The ceremony, with the offending moment intact, remained available to watch on BBC iPlayer for over 12 hours.
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The broadcaster later removed it to edit out the abuse.
The BBC said: “We regret that it was not edited before broadcast and it will now be removed from the BBC iPlayer version.”
