The evening was just beginning, the atmosphere was warming up, the guests had all been seated without any major hiccups – and everyone was looking forward to a night celebrating the stars of British film and the wider industry.
That was until theatre great Delroy Lindo and American film star Michael B Jordan stepped on stage to announce the first Bafta of the night in the special visual effects category.
Just as Jordan started to speak, a horrifying moment unfolded, one that not only threatened to ruin the event but has since caused ructions on both sides of the Atlantic – and seen the liberal Left twist itself in knots over what or whom to be offended by.
Out of nowhere, a member of the audience yelled the N-word into the auditorium, visibly stunning both Lindo, 74, and Jordan, 39, before the pair quickly composed themselves.
It later emerged the slur had been shouted by Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson, 54 – a campaigner for those living with the disability. Davidson was in attendance because the film I Swear, up for five prizes on Sunday evening, is inspired by his experience living with the condition.
Sadly, however, the appalled and often unsympathetic reaction to his outburst suggests that understanding of Tourette’s may have some way to go.
In the film, Davidson is portrayed by breakout Hull-born star Robert Aramayo – who won the Bafta for best actor in a surprise victory over Hollywood giants Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
It wasn’t even Davidson’s first unfortunate heckle of the night: He could also be heard shouting, ‘Shut the f*** up!’ during the introductory speech from Bafta chairman, Sara Putt. (Contrary to reports in the US media, Bafta attendees had been warned that Davidson might say something inappropriate due to his condition).
Michael B Jordan (left) and Delroy Lindo (right) were on stage when Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson was heard yelling the N-word, but the BBC failed to edit out the racial slur
Controversially, the BBC failed to edit out the racial slur when it broadcast the ceremony on BBC1 two hours later, and also included the word in the footage uploaded to its streaming platform iPlayer. This meant that millions of viewers tuning in to the BBC could still hear the word until at least midday yesterday when, under mounting pressure, the broadcaster edited out the offensive comment from its iPlayer recording. (Needless to say, the uncensored clip had already gone viral online.)
Bafta may have hoped sending event host Alan Cumming on stage in the second half to apologise ‘if [the outburst] has caused offence’ would be sufficient to quell the upset. Fat chance. It was too little, too late to dampen the growing outrage.
Lindo and Jordan, who both star in Sinners (which received 13 nominations), did not comment on stage. Lindo later told Vanity Fair magazine that he and Jordan ‘did what we had to do’ while presenting but added that he wished ‘someone from Bafta had spoken to us afterwards’.
Davidson left the auditorium 20 minutes after his involuntary remarks, with Bafta stressing he had not been asked to leave.
The scandal has made huge waves in America, where – given the country’s history of slavery and segregation – the word is arguably even more incendiary than it is here. Several black American actors commented on the debate yesterday, with few showing much understanding of Davidson’s plight.
Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx, 58, branded the outburst ‘unacceptable’, scoffing: ‘Out of all the words you could’ve said, Tourette’s makes you say that. Nah, he meant that s***.’
Wendell Pierce, who starred in the critically acclaimed series The Wire alongside Jordan, added: ‘It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full-throated apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan. The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning [sic] for the racist slur.’
However, disability activists rallied behind Davidson – who developed the condition when he was 12 – arguing his tics are involuntary and, crucially, that the nature of Tourette’s is often such that sufferers say the most offensive thing possible at any moment.
After all, when Davidson’s car was being searched by police on his entry to Buckingham Palace in 2019, he yelled: ‘A bomb! I’ve got a f***ing bomb!’ When meeting the late Elizabeth II herself, he screamed: ‘F*** the Queen!’ Former Premier League striker Stan Collymore, who was born to a Barbadian father and an English mother, hit out at ‘our pig-ignorant American cousins’, sharing a documentary about a boy with Tourette’s to his X page.
The slur wasn’t even Davidson’s first unfortunate heckle of the night. He could also be heard shouting, ‘Shut the f*** up!’ during the Bafta chairman’s introductory speech
Collymore, 55, urged ‘those ignoring a severe disability and its consequences [to] take 28 minutes to watch it. Then accept your [sic] f***ing ignorant musings are so wrong it’s frightening’.
Amid the drama, Left-wing campaigners appeared unable to work out whose side they should take – that of Davidson, a working-class white man who suffers from a lifelong disability, or that of the black actors, some of them millionaires, offended by his outburst.
Activist Ash Sarkar, a self-styled communist, said: ‘What happened last night at the Baftas is a genuine example of competing rights – on the one hand, including someone with a disability who has every right to attend, and on the other, protecting people from being assailed by racial slurs. I honestly don’t know how anyone’s meant to square that.’
One user pointedly responded that finding a single word ‘psychologically damaging, regardless of obvious context, is infantile’.
Broadcaster Narinder Kaur wrote: ‘We can all understand he [Davidson] has a condition, but this is subjecting Jordan and Lindo to racial trauma, which everyone needs to understand is UNACCEPTABLE on every level.’
She directed most of her ire towards the BBC – while fury at the corporation escalated further when it emerged that it had cut out footage of British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr crying ‘Free Palestine!’ while making his acceptance speech for outstanding British debut for his film My Father’s Shadow.
Vice-chairman of Tourettes Action, Ed Palmer, said the BBC should have considered censoring the slur, adding: ‘It’s important to show compassion and understand that [a tic] is involuntary… causing offence is often very distressing to people who have the condition.’
His sentiments were echoed by Aramayo, 33, also awarded Bafta’s rising star award, who stressed: ‘The way we perceive Tourette’s is a joint responsibility. It’s not shouting obscenities. It’s not being abusive.’
Last night Davidson broke cover, saying: ‘I am, and always have been, deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning… I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette’s community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding.’
A BBC spokesman yesterday told the Daily Mail: ‘We apologise that [the tic] was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.’
Whether that’s enough to staunch the fury the incident has sparked is another matter entirely.