At the Feb. 22 BAFTA Film Awards, John Davidson, who has Tourette Syndrome, yelled the n-word while Black actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were onstage
NEED TO KNOW
The activist shed light on both the incident and his condition in an interview with Variety, which reported that he had reached out to Jordan and Lindo to apologize directly
"There was a microphone just in front of me, and with hindsight I have to question whether this was wise," recalled Davidson
Tourette Syndromeadvocate John Davidson is shedding light on the incident at the BAFTA Film Awards, when he could be heardyelling expletives.
During the show's Feb. 22 telecast,SinnersstarsMichael B. JordanandDelroy Lindowere presenting an award onstage when Davidson, 54, yelled the n-word from the audience. The incident has led toapologiesfrom the British Academy of Film and Television Arts andthe BBC, which aired the ceremony.
In a new email interview withVariety, the Scottish activist indicated that he reached out to theSinnersteam to directly apologize to Jordan, 39, Lindo, 73, and the movie's production designer Hannah Beachler. The latter had postedon X(formerly Twitter) that Davidson had directed slurs at her as well.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"StudioCanal were working closely with BAFTA, and BAFTA had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast," Davidson recalled to the outlet. "I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past, and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette's and worked harder to prevent anything that I said — which, after all, was some 40 rows back from the stage — from being included in the broadcast."
He added that at his seat in theAlan Cumming-hosted BAFTAs ceremony, "I remember there was a microphone just in front of me, and with hindsight I have to question whether this was wise, so close to where I was seated, knowing I would tic."
Davidson is the subject of the British biopicI Swear, written and directed by Kirk Jones and starring Robert Aramayo. The film, which the Tourette's advocate consulted on, was nominated six times at this year's BAFTA Film Awards, winning for Aramayo's lead performance as Davidson.
Advertisement
"When socially unacceptable words come out, the guilt and shame on the part of the person with the condition is often unbearable and causes enormous distress," Davidson told Variety of the highly misunderstood neurological disorder. "I can't begin to explain how upset and distraught I have been as the impact from Sunday sinks in."
Davidson first began experiencing symptoms of Tourette Syndrome at age 12. His particular symptom is the vocal tic coprolalia, which only occurs in 10-15 percent of Tourette's cases, according to theTourette Association of America. Speaking toVariety, Davidson shared that the tic at the BAFTA ceremony resulted in "perhaps 10 different offensive words on the night of the awards," including the n-word and homophobic slurs.
But it wasn't until Jordan and Lindo "appeared to look up from their role as presenters," Davidson added, that he realized that those onstage could hear his tics from his seat. "I was so far from the stage. From the lack of response from the early presenters to my tics, and with no one turning around to look at me, I assumed, like everyone else, that I could not be heard on the stage."
Before deciding to leave the auditorium, he continued, "My stomach just dropped. As always, I felt a wave of shame and embarrassment hit me all at once. You want the floor to swallow you up. I wanted to disappear ... I was saying in my head, 'Please don't judge me. Please understand this isn't who I am.' "
"My tics have absolutely nothing to do with what I think, feel or believe," said Davidson. "It's an involuntary neurological misfire. My tics are not an intention, not a choice and not a reflection of my values."
Winnersof this year's BAFTA Film Awards included three for Ryan Coogler'sSinners, making history as the org's most-decorated movie made by a Black director ever.
Read the original article onPeople