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 really think you should stay away from disabled people tbh, so it's all good.

Being black or overweight isn't an insult in and of itself. The insult is when someone makes a judgement on someone based upon a physical characteristic of a person and turns that into something derogatory.

I get that it's not nice to have a slur shouted at you, whatever that slur may be - but if there is no actual intent or in this case concious thought behind it, then it's not an insult.

He has Tourette's fgs - he literally cant help himself, please educate yourself on what Tourette's actually is before starting such a thread.

Hannah Beachler, the production designer of "Sinners" and a black woman, says Davidson used racial slurs three times. once to her. And she is offended by the "throw away apology". Can't say I blame her. HannahBeachler on X: "I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can't find the words. The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show." / X

If you know someone well enough to consider inviting them to your wedding but you exclude them solely because they are disabled, then yes, that makes you a bigot in my view.

That’s not what I said. Take the emotion out of it. The same person will shout ‘I’ve got a bomb in my bag!’ at airport security without having an internal conversation with themselves about whether it would be more taboo to say the security guard giving him a pat down is a paedophile. The student who shouted ‘Cunt!’ at me throughout lectures wasn’t deciding whether ‘Cunt’ was more offensive than ‘Ugly bitch!’

As I understand it, people were warned in advance about the possibility of this happening. That also raises an issue.

Thought experiment, not a suggestion, thought experiment…. Imagine if they all decided to stay away rather than risk being exposed to slurs. Or it was decided by the organisers, that recognising this clash was going to happen, PoC should stay home, and we ended up with an all white event.

Of course for John it solves nothing as he’s still going to shout something offensive. Just with a different target.

Well, that's almost worse!

I don't know. As I've said, I know it's involuntary, but I can't blame people for not wanting to subject themselves to verbal abuse that repeatedly targets their insecurities, or for being upset by being called the n-word on stage.

This is an eloquent and very well thought out explanation that only the wilfully obtuse or painfully ignorant won't understand and/or will argue with.

Where did I say he should lock himself away full stop? That’s quite the leap you’ve taken.

Thats the point. The condition literally makes them say the worse thing imaginable.

I saw a program where somebody called his famale case worker everything from a cunt to a whore in between speaking to her perfectly nicely.

Its a condition. What is difficult to understand?

Again see the film

you would understand then how how he can’t live his life without ever having a tik an without going out

The racial slur is of course horrific and for the person and the community feels visceral, for those who are of the opinion that those with this type of Tourette's should remove themselves it is John that has done so much to increase awareness and this includes those people of colour with Tourette's. To attempt to remove or silence those from society due to involuntary racial slurs also removes those who have the discrimination of colour and disability

But it's still going to hurt.

And if my husband repeatedly accidentally elbows me in the face, and literally cannot stop himself, then no one would blame me for leaving him.

Lest she be a cunt to someone who absolutely cannot and has not chosen their disability.

Yes, even on her wedding day it would be a cuntish way to treat someone with a neurological condition.

Its an involuntary compulsion to say things that are taboo or really unacceptable, the more nervous you are the worse it can get.
If it fascinates you go and research coprolalia (literally "shit talk")

Then everyone else should have been warned that abuse was likely so that they could have skipped the ceremony if they weren't up for it. Rather than what happened, which is that he abused several people until he realised it was an impossible situation and left (not before yelling the N word at people backstage though).

Are you saying he wouldn't be having a better day today if he'd watched it on TV? Do you really not think him attending was a terrible mistake?

People can exclude children lest they be restless during the ceremony, but not Uncle Dave who might shout the n-word at their husband-to-be? Hm...

People can exclude whoever they want from their wedding for whatever reason they want.

Excluding someone with a disability purely for that reason, would imo make that person a cunt.

But it's still their choice.

Nobody is acting like the n word is no big deal. The problem here is your inability to accept that two things can be true at the same time.

Here's a short clip of John and some fellow-sufferers from a documentary - it will hopefully be useful for people to understand what the condition looks like if you're a severe sufferer:

https://x.com/DerRohlSouness/status/2025692707671130185

This is where I don’t like the identity politics fashion of only seeing people as part of groups rather than individuals.

I can absolutely see that Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo would have been upset and offended by what happened. They will also likely have suffered genuine racial abuse during their lives.

However, they are both highly successful and wealthy Hollywood actors with influence and resources. John Davidson is a caretaker whose life has been ruined by a condition he can’t help.

This was my daughter's sticking point this morning. The 'apology'.

If you had a colleague with Tourette's who shouts racist abuse coming to your wedding would you warn your non-white friends beforehand so they could choose whether to be on the receiving end of it? Or just judge them from your high horse when they left? If the colleague shouted at children and frightened them would you tell their parents they are cunts for leaving?

I disagree that anything I have said is identity politics. But if you read my comment, all I said was that JD's slurs should have been edited out by the BBC.

Who does that hurt exactly? Are rich and handsome actors required to put up with racist slurs that have now become memes and spread round the net?