At the BAFTA Awards over the weekend, one of the nominated movies was a biographical film of John Davidson, who suffers from Tourette's syndrome. Tourette's is a disorder characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal tic. Approximately10-15% of people with Tourette's experience vocal tics like coprolalia, which is the involuntary, uncontrollable outburst of obscene words or socially inappropriate phrases. There is no cure for Tourette's, there is no single most effective medication, and no one medication effectively treats all symptoms.
Naturally enough, John Davidson himself attended the awards ceremony and could be heard shouting various expletives, due to his Tourette’s. When "Sinners" stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage to present an award, Davidson shouted out the "n-word" which was picked up by nearby audience microphones and was also heard on the broadcast, which was on a 2-hour delay. 25 minutes later, Davidson left the auditorium.
The BAFTA organization was aware that Davidson was going to attend the ceremony and later admitted that they met to discuss what might happen were he to swear during the broadcast. Despite these efforts (if we are to believe they took place) they took no precautions to seat Davidson away from live microphones that could pick up his outbursts. The ceremony was on a 2-hour broadcast delay, and the BBC had ample opportunity to "bleep" out the racial slur. After the ceremony was broadcast, it was made available for streaming for 15 hours before public outrage forced the BBC to take it down. To make matters worse for the BBC, they did take advantage of the 2-hour delay to edit out award winner Akinola Davies Jr.'s mention of "free Palestine" in his acceptance speech.
The fallout has been major. The BBC has been widely criticized for leaving up a version of the ceremony on its streaming platform (in which the racial slur was audible) for over 15 hours before it was taken down. The broadcaster has also been criticized for failing to edit out the racial slur, while it did edit Davies Jr.’s speech, including a part where he says “free Palestine.”
British actor Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù shared a lengthy statement on social media, criticizing what he described as the “institutional racism” behind the BBC’s decision to edit Davies Jr.’s BAFTA speech but not Davidson’s involuntary slur.
“On a night of incredible joy and celebration, not only of our film but many other wonderful artists, especially black artists, this is the biggest talking point walking away from the evening,” Dìrísù wrote in the statement. “I didn’t want to fuel the discourse about it, but like Vinícius Júnior, racism, bigotry, and injustice have to be exposed and shouted from the rooftops.” (last week, Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior reported racist abuse during a game against Portuguese team Benfica).
Dìrísù continued: “That the BBC found wonderfully creative ways to censor Akinola’s beautiful speech about inclusivity and justice and freedom, but were comfortable and actively made the decision to broadcast a message of hate and intolerance shows where its priorities lie.”
Dìrísù added he is not “ignorant” to how “institutionally racist the UK, the industry, or the BBC are and continues to prove themselves to be.” But he said the actions still hurt when “it’s thrown in your face in front of the world.”
The Gangs of London actor ended his statement by commending Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, whom he described as “gracious, dignified, and defiant.” Dìrísù said he is looking forward to a [BBC] apology and repercussion, but he wasn't holding his breath. Neither am I, frankly.
