John Davidson, the Tourette syndrome campaigner whose life inspired the film I Swear, has said that he was told any involuntary expletives would be cut out of the Bafta Film Awards broadcast.
Sinners stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting a prize at the Royal Albert Hall awards ceremony on Sunday (22 February) when Davidson began involuntarily shouting out the N-word as a tic.
While host Alan Cumming explained to the audience that “a person with Tourette syndrome” was in the crowd and that he had “no control over his language”, the racial slur was not edited out of the show when it was broadcast on a delay later that evening.
Speaking in his first interview about the Baftas, Davidson – who saw actor Robert Aramayo take home the award for Best Actor for portraying him in I Swear – spoke about how “upset and distraught” he had been since the Baftas, having allegedly been told that any offensive involuntary tics would be cut from the broadcast.
“[Film studio] StudioCanal were working closely with Bafta, and Bafta had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast,” Davidson told Variety.
According to reports, Warner Bros – the studio behind Sinners – spoke to Bafta on the night and asked them to remove the incident from the BBC broadcast. It is understood that studio representatives were reassured this request would be passed on, and Bafta was in touch with the studio throughout the evening.
Davidson continued: “I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past, and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette’s and worked harder to prevent anything that I said... from being included in the broadcast.”
The campaigner claimed that there was a microphone “just in front” of where he was sitting, adding: “With hindsight I have to question whether this was wise, so close to where I was seated, knowing I would tic.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC and Bafta for comment.
Davidson suffers from coprolalia, a version of Tourette’s which involves involuntary cursing or making socially inappropriate remarks. Explaining that he was often triggered by his surroundings, Davidson explained: “I want people to know and understand that my tics have absolutely nothing to do with what I think, feel or believe.”
He said that this part of the condition, called echolalia, had led to him shouting “perhaps 10 different offensive words” during the Baftas. He said that he had yelled “boring” at the Bafta chair and said homophobic comments and “paedophile” towards Alan Cumming when he made a joke about himself and Paddington Bear.
“Tourette’s can feel spiteful and searches out the most upsetting tic for me personally and for those around me. What you hear me shouting is literally the last thing in the world I believe; it is the opposite of what I believe,” he explained.
“The most offensive word that I ticked at the ceremony, for example, is a word I would never use and would completely condemn if I did not have Tourette’s.”
Davidson chose to leave the auditorium shortly after realising that Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan had heard his tic from the stage.
While Lindo said on the night that nobody from Bafta had spoken to him or Jordan afterwards, Davidson revealed that he had reached out to the Sinners studio to apologise to Lindo, Jordan and production designer Hannah Beachler, who he also shouted the slur at.
Following the backlash to the decision to include the slur in the broadcast, the BBC removed the Baftas from streaming service iPlayer. At the time of writing, it still has not been added back online.
John Davidson says Tourette’s misconceptions are more challenging than the disorder
I research Tourette’s. Here’s what I think about John Davidson’s biopic, I Swear
BBC boss apologises to staff for ‘distressing’ racial Tourette’s slur at Baftas
Oscar-winning actor confirms role in Heat sequel alongside Leonardo DiCaprio
Iconic movie props from Star Wars and Jaws set for lucrative auction sale
