John Davidson shouting the N word during the BAFTAS

[Crawse]

John Davidson has Tourettes and is a campaigner for the condition. Whist Michale B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting he shouted out the racial slur. It’s extremely uncomfortable to watch. I feel terrible for the two presenters. I’m really conflicted on this one.

What are your thoughts?

No one should be subjected to abuse. That is my bottom line. Maybe the fact I was called P*** (I’m half Indian) growing up has influenced my views. I obviously recognise Tourette’s is involuntary.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/22/entertainment/baftas-2026-tourettes-racist-slur

I'd love, love for you to try to show where anyone has actually been racist on this thread.

The saddest thing is the BBC's editorial decision has taken away from Lindo and Johnson's accomplishment. The conversation is about them being subject to a racial slur at a British awards ceremony (and some American spaces I am in are making a lot of that) instead of the performances that brought them to be invited as presenters and the success of the film Sinners.

Didn't you JUST tell someone they have no right to speak for them

Neither do you...

So are parkinsons and gout, are you going to pretend they don't exist too?

Here's a black woman with tourettes discussing what happened.
https://x.com/l0velyay/status/2025758545707151725

It's MN.

You won't get many people who have a big deal with black people being referred to as N*ggers here, intentional or not.

Had Davison shouted out 'Trans Women are Women' then people here would have been outraged at the BBC's decision to air it.

The film is about the life of this man. It was made to highlight the trauma and issues surrounding a person with a disability. Amongst other types of Tourette's, and OCD, he suffers from coprolalia - which compels the person with that disability to involuntarily shout the most offensive things. That is what tics are. Involuntary.

What happened at the BAFTAS literally illustrates what coprolalia is. He was in an extreme situation, and his body responded to it in the most unfortunate way.

Yes its terrible for those on the receiving end of those slurs. Really terrible. But I'm hoping they understand that it was not intentional.

Its also terrible for John Davidson. His story was being told - the actor who portrayed him was being celebrated. He should not have been excluded from this event though. He has a disability, however unpalatable it may be ITS NOT HIS FAULT I believe the decision to include his was correct.

It should have been moderated by the BBC, and not broadcast.

But the context around the moment where the N word was said was that John was there for a film that was intended to raise awareness about the struggle and bravery of living his life with Tourette’s and we saw a real world example of that struggle in his reaction and in the discomfort, discourse and acceptance it prompted.

Of course some of the attention is on him, it’s a great teaching / learning / empathy moment and an example of what the film was showing. Having a disability is really bloody hard, learning to understand disabilities and accommodate them and help people with them live lives within society requires empathy, understanding and sometimes navigating challenges.

Of course it is hard and awful for the actors to hear that word, but there is VERY clearly a difference between someone saying that word with intent to cause offence and harm, and someone saying it because they have a neurological condition that makes them say the most inappropriate thing in any context.

Understanding that difference, and accommodating it and acknowledging the challenge - is part of the work that society does to accommodate people with disabilities. Because the alternative is segregating them, which is really no different from segregating people who are different races, sexualities, religions etc

And where have I. I have only commented on my own feelings towards the situation. Whereas the poster I replied to said they’ll assume the black actors didn’t care. Bit of a difference.

I certainly don't blame JD, but I also don't think the presenters should be called the N word when they are making a speech on stage either, even if it is a tic from a disability.

I agree with this

What's shameful here is your ignorance.

Not one of the most ableist too?

Don't let the door slam on your backside as you leave, your feelings on the feckless disabled is abhorrent in 2026

Denial.

That’s the nature of coprolalia. The inhibitory function that misfires focuses on words they have been socialised to see as taboo. Someone from a society that throws around ‘fucking’ and ‘shit’ a lot is unlikely to tic with those — it will be something they see as genuinely offensive/taboo. There’s a scientist with Tourette’s with coprolalia on Reddit who says that he never used swear words when he tic’ed because they weren’t taboo for him, his thing was more making death threats and shouting ‘I hate cops’ but that after he got married his tics sometimes altered to ‘I want a lover’ and the like, because that had become taboo for him now.

A lot of people are acting like this was the film's premiere. It isn't, the BAFTAs are a professional event that people from all over the world attend. People are expected to act professionally. If he was shouting abuse because he was drunk due to alcoholism would people be defending him for his illness and saying everyone else must be okay with it? What if someone had recently lost a child and he yelled "Dead kid" at them?

It would have been far better for John Davidson to watch it at home or at minimum have him pop backstage when black people are due on stage so he didn't very predictably yell out racial abuse. He will have to deal with the fallout from this for the rest of his life and it overshadowed the achievements of the film (one of many films that were being celebrated).

I said what I believe the actors will think. What I am actually doing is crediting them with the intelligence to understand that John Davidson has a disability and there was no actual intent to insult them.

Intelligence, which it seems, quite a few people on this thread lack.

Have you read the thread? People are blaming John, saying he should be in an asylum, shouldn’t have been invited, insinuating he is making up his disability…

Intimidation 👍

"But I don’t think the impact of Michael and Delroy hearing that word and how it makes them feel"

why don't you tell us how it makes them feel?

hypocrite

"Nah, we can't be arsed to put a wheelchair ramp in. Stay at home".

I haven’t seen anyone post that the BBC should have aired that, they clearly shouldn’t have. People are defending John from comments that he is a racist/should be locked in an asylum/punched in the face/is making up his disability etc.

Well exactly

We know this is the worst thing to say as we live in society where we have become aware of this. So has John. The difference is his disability compels him to say it.

If he had shouted to Prince William “your uncle’s a nonce” people would be finding it hilarious, even though he wouldn’t have intended that either.

It’s conflicting and I think nuance needs to be applied. His tics are obviously involuntary and it’s a neurological condition, so the guy can’t help it. But at the same time, it must be deeply hurtful for people of colour to hear it being shouted at them. Somebody else from Sinners has tweeted to say they actually had the word shouted at them three times before the ceremony. It absolutely should have been cut from the broadcast, just like ‘free palestine’ was. I don’t think we can disregard how it must have felt to MBJ to hear that, but we can’t disregard the fact it was likely involuntary either.