UPDATE: I need to watch the highlights of this BAFTA ceremony. Apparently, Davidson did not just shout profanities at Lindo and Jordan (via THR).
“Over the first 20 minutes of the BAFTA ceremony as Davidson shouted, “Boring!” while guests were taken through some of the housekeeping rules before the show began, and “Bullshit!” when people were asked not to curse. He also exclaimed, “Shut the fuck up,” while BAFTA chair Sara Putt made her introductory remarks.”
EARLIER: A wild moment occurred during this evening’s BAFTA broadcast in the UK. Gosh — how does one even begin to explain what happened?
Basically, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award on stage when they were suddenly subjected to an audible outburst from the audience in which the n-word was shouted at them — non-stop and relentlessly loud. The camera stayed on Jordan and Lindo, both of whom held themselves with remarkable composure, but according to some who were in attendance, the pain and disbelief in their eyes made it a genuinely hard watch.
It turns out the source of the outburst was John Davidson, a Tourette’s campaigner and the real-life inspiration behind the BAFTA-winning British indie “I Swear.” Davidson, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at 25, experiences involuntary vocal tics and verbal outbursts — including, it seems, profanity.
Afterward, Alan Cumming addressed the situation, thanking the audience for their “understanding” and explaining that “strong language” can be part of how Tourette’s manifests, something the film itself attempts to explore.
Now, to the honest question many people quietly asked afterward: Does Tourette’s actually force someone to have racist thoughts, or does it stop them from hiding racist thoughts? I don’t know enough about the disease, and it’s obviously uncontrollable, but many on social media are absolutely pissed off about what happened.
Just the fact that the n-word automatically popped into Davidson’s head when two black presenters suddenly appeared on stage is hilariously wrong.
For those in attendance, it certainly didn’t make the moment any easier to digest — especially given who was standing on stage when it happened. This was certainly not BAFTA’s finest hour — a moment that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
