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

It's not a poor example, as that wasn't the point. My point was merely acknowledging to the pp that yes, I know it is involuntary, but obviously that doesn't mean the brain isn't deciding 'what's the most offensive thing I can say right now?'

Of course it's because he's white, and of course black and asian people don't get Tourettes tics. 🌟🌟

What is the answer short of never letting people with tourettes leave the house there isn't one.
I'm sure John Davidson feels terrible but the calling out is involuntary.

I agree with this. I understand Tourette’s is a disability but there has been some insane minimising on this thread on the impact of the comments towards Michael b Jordan and delroy lindo who are apparently supposed to just be completely fine with it and simply choose not to be offended.

I've always thought they didn't suffer disadvantages myself. Silly me 🤦🏾‍♀️.

It should be really easy for you to understand that black people don’t exist to be therapy tools for white Tourette’s Syndrome sufferers.

The fact that you think a white TS sufferer’s right to attend a wedding trumps the bride’s right not to be called a ‘n”””””’on her wedding says it all and shows where you see black people in the pecking order.

Yes, but you see the Queen dealt with abuse too. It's exactly the same, calling black man a n**ger and abusing the Queen. The abuse directed at her was also made into memes, went around the world and used by the MAGA right. And of course, she wasn't rich at all, unlike 71-year-old plutocrat Delroy Lindo and milionaire Hannah Beachler.

God save the Queen!

I really find it hard to think what the right course of action would have been in this situation where the rights of a disabled person to attend an event conflict with the rights of people who experience racism not to hear this language.

Obviously, the BBC shouldn't have broadcast the involuntary outburst. It would probably have been reported regardless, but the footage wouldn't be available. And the "if anyone was offended" is not a way to make an apology.

But the organisers are weighing up not inviting a disabled man because of his disability, and knowing that they are potentially subjecting Black actors - but also, I assume women, queer people, disabled people - to having slurs directed at them. And even though the outbursts are involuntary, it's going to be upsetting to hear them. I hope the presenters were at least informed that this type of outburst could be a possibility.

I feel like not enough planning went into this. Genuine inclusivity is almost always harder than just inviting marginalised groups in and hoping for the best.

They wouldn't be getting an invite to my wedding, especially if they were just a colleague. I feel very sorry for them but if they are likely to randomly shout out racial slurs and insults to other guests, then I would expect them to completely understand why I couldn't invite them. I'd have a duty to protect my guests from verbal abuse. I couldn't have someone shouting the "c" word in my dear old granny's face all afternoon, she'd be devastated. I'd also be protecting them from possibly backlash as not everyone would be so understanding of this particular disability and not everyone could just laugh it off.

We're not. We're telling what we feel about the topic you've raised. You had your say, we're having ours.

I'm assuming you thought the vast majority of people would agree with you but his disability is the reason it happened, not racial prejudice.

The definition of "abuse" is "the misuse of something for a bad purpose" - that's patently not what JD did - if you cannot see the difference between what he did and actual racial abuse that's on you, not us or JD.

I’d turn down any invitation to the wedding of someone who I knew to be disabling

Michael B Jordan and Delroy Londo are millionaire actors with access to lots of resources and support.

I completely get that it’s not nice to hear this word, but John Davidson is a caretaker whose life has been ruined by a condition he can’t help.

Do you think the BBCs' editing out of the slurs s now ableist, then?

If you had a child, or grandchild, nephew or niece with this disability would you exclude them from family events?

Being in a theatre on national TV is very far from walking down the street or visiting somewhere people can easily leave if they find your behaviour upsetting. All the people in the audience were stuck there with him yelling abuse. That level of stress must have made it a horrible experience for him too and he's probably really struggling today.

That is the issue with seeing everything through an identity politics lens.

It is clearly possible for a white working class man with a disability that prevents him living a normal life to suffer more disadvantage than two millionaire successful actors.

Whereas I'd turn down an invitation to a wedding if I had Tourette's and thought I might call the bride an n-word.

Having Tourette's must be bloody awful, but I wouldn't want to shout slurs in the middle of someone's big day.

Honestly, it's a disgrace that he agreed to be part of the audience when others were going up on stage, while knowing full well he would be unable to prevent himself from shouting racial abuse at people.

His disability isn't his fault, but it is his responsibility to manage.

I cannot imagine what it feels like to be on stage, televised to a global audience, and have someone yell at you a racial epithet.

It has made me think much, much less of John Davidson, that's for sure.

Men and women of all races can be called a c**t and feel a certain way about it. Some will be more triggered by others depending on their own history with the word.

If my neighbour and I were to be called n**rs, she'd probably be confused, slightly shocked because she is white. I on the other hand would be crushed. No matter how many times I've heard this word, it does not lose its potency.

I understand his disability. I understand many disabilities and adjustments.
John had a right to be there. He also used a word (unintentionally) at least 3 times, all to black people. The apology should be as strong as the plea for understanding of his disability.

Expecting those who were harmed to adjust over and above the harm for his sake is unreasonable. If I have a condition that causes my arms to spasm unintentionally and I poke someone in the eye, I can explain my disability and apologise for the pain caused. If I have a processing disorder and miss an email that causes a client to miss out on something important I can apologise for the harm or delay etc. The processing issue has happened to me during the course of my work and I have apologised.

Black people on a global stage, amongst their peers, minding their own business having to hear this and yet again be told to stay quiet and center others over and above themselves. I do not think so.

No one gets to tell the black people in that room how to feel.

Course he is more disadvantaged. But ranking victims according to how much money they earn is a type of identity politics too,
I doubt Hannah Beachler is rich and influential. This is probably the one night in her life she got a look-in, and it was ruined for her. She's likely to go many years working at the coal face trying to get black films made, and never succeed.

I find the lack of empathy towards a disabled man chilling.

They weren't intentionally subjected to racist abuse, he didn't abuse them. He had a tic.
He was there literally because a film was made about his lifelong neurological condition.

This is not an either/or situation, but one which does require some degree of emotional intelligence.

Excluding someone with Tourette's because they "might" blurt something out is obviously not fine.

This is not the same as saying that it's fine to insult people, or that people do not have the right to take offence at slurs. But the fact is, that this is not being done intentionally. Someone blurting out a racist slur without intent or control is not, by definiton, being racist.

This is what I meant when I said that adjustments have to be made. For someone in wheelchair, it's pretty obvious what that adjustment needs to be. In this scenerio, it's obviously harder, but simply saying to a disabled person that they are not welcome without adjustments being made or considered is patently the wrong approach.

So we are just back to locking people away who we don't like or understand then. Lovely.

That's par for the course here, so I don't even find it chilling or surprising anymore.

You could see they were taken aback for a moment, but had to carry on. And having to sit through several of those outburst is just terrible.

That's a bit hyperbolic.