British film awards interrupted by racist slur from man with Tourette syndrome

(CNN) — It was the clip heard around the world after Sunday night’s BAFTA ceremony in London — a man yelling the n-word as two celebrated Black actors, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, presented an award on stage.

The man was John Davidson, the subject of the British indie film “I Swear,” about a man with Tourette syndrome. Davidson, who has long campaigned for awareness of the condition, told CNN before the ceremony that he was worried about the involuntary tics that mark it.

The actor Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson in the film, went on to win the night’s award for best actor. Davidson said the young English actor studied him closely, asking questions like, “When you have a tic do you know where it comes from? What about tic triggers?” Speaking on the crowded red carpet, Davidson went on: “Certain things — like today, lots of people around, I’m feeling very, you know, more tics in case I lash out. Different situations can trigger different emotions and tics and stuff.”

The audience had been warned before the ceremony that tics or involuntary swearing could occur, and Davidson received large applause inside the hall. After the incident, host Alan Cumming asked for “understanding” for the “strong and offensive language.” He reminded the crowd that Tourette syndrome was a disability and tics were involuntary, and said: “We apologize if you are offended tonight.”

Contacted by CNN on Sunday, the BBC, which airs the ceremony with a long delay, reiterated that message. On Monday, a spokesperson apologized that the BBC did not edit the slur “prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”

Lindo, in particular, looked stunned at the outburst, and then moved on with the ceremony, where he and Jordan presented the first award of the evening — for special visual effects to “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

Hannah Beachler, the Oscar-nominated production designer on “Sinners,” said in a thread on X that another outburst during the night was directed at her.

“I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation,” Beachler wrote. “I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended’ at the end of the show.”

“I am not steal (sic), this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it,” wrote Beachler, who won an Oscar for production design in 2019 for her work on “Black Panther,” becoming the first Black person to do so.

The question of apologies is raised in “I Swear,” which makes the case that Davidson cannot spend his life apologizing for words and actions he cannot prevent and has no control over. The screenplay draws a comparison to a blind man knocking someone over in a bar: should they be held responsible for their actions and made to apologize? One of the questions now is whether it was right for Cumming to apologize — clumsily, at that — to the room on Davidson’s behalf.

Prize fight

“I Swear” has grossed $8 million at the UK box office to date and will be out in US cinemas in April.

Accepting his best actor win, Aramayo said, “I can’t believe I’m up here looking at people like you,” gesturing at Leonardo DiCaprio, who had been nominated for his role in One Battle After Another. Aramayo went on to tell an emotional Ethan Hawke, another nominee, how a talk the seasoned actor had given at Julliard had changed his own outlook as a student actor.

British cinema’s biggest night cleaved to some longstanding award season narratives while heading off-piste on others.

It awarded best supporting actress to “Sinners’” Wunmi Mosaku (incidentally, one of few Brit actors nominated) over One Battle’s Teyana Taylor. Stellan Skarsgård and Benicio del Toro, both winners of significant awards this season, lost out to Sean Penn for best supporting actor.

“Hamnet” was awarded outstanding British film, but the homegrown title, which took best motion picture drama at the Golden Globes last month, walked away with relatively little, its only other award Jessie Buckley’s best actress win (this season’s biggest lock).

The biggest movie to walk away empty handed was “Marty Supreme.” Timothée Chalamet leaves London with an unread speech and another chance to confirm his greatness at next month’s Oscars. With Aramayo out of the picture, there’s nothing to suggest he won’t.

Though BAFTA shared the love, handing three awards to “Sinners” and three to “Frankenstein,” it couldn’t deny the greatness of “One Battle After Another.” The film’s six wins, spanning best picture, best director, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and supporting actor is enough to entertain the possibility of a sweep at the Oscars.

The BAFTAs and Oscars rarely agree about the year’s best film, and should Paul Thomas Anderson’s prevail it would be only the third film in a decade and change where the awards aligned (“Nomadland” and “Oppenheimer” are the others, for those keeping track).

CNN’s Sandra Gonzalez contributed to this report.

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