As we previously reported, a man named John Davidson shouted a racial slur at Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo during Sunday night’s BAFTA Awards.
Davidson has dealt with Tourette’s Syndrome for most of his life, and he was in the audience because a film based on his life was up for several awards.
Like many people with Tourette’s, Davidson suffers from coprolalia, 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 outbursts, and last night’s slurs were involuntary.
But that hasn’t stopped thousands of social media users and a few public figures from criticizing both Davidson and the 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.
“Out of all the words you could’ve said Tourette’s makes you say that?” Foxx wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Nah, he meant that sh-t,” Foxx continued (per TMZ), adding, “Unacceptable.”
Davidson excused himself from the ceremony, and host Alan Cummings promptly issued an apology to the audience.
“Tourette Syndrome is a disability, and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette Syndrome has no control over their language,” Cummings said, adding:
“We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
Earlier today BAFTA organizers issued their own apology:
“We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologize to all,” the organization said in a statement.
“We will learn from this, and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy,” the statement continued.
“We would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.”
In his own statement, Davidson said that he is “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”
“I was in attendance to celebrate the film of my life, I Swear, which, more than any film or TV documentary, explains the origins, condition, traits, and manifestations of Tourette Syndrome,” he continued.
Clearly, Davidson is horrified by the events of last night. This is obviously a very sensitive subject, but we hope that everyone involved can eventually find some sort of closure.