The British Academy addressed the controversy surrounding Sunday night’s BAFTAs, where Tourette’s activist John Davidson made a number of offensive comments during the show. Among the involuntary outbursts caused by his condition was the N-word he shouted when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented him with the award for Best Visual Effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash.
BAFTA said in a statement on Monday: “We take full responsibility for the extremely difficult situation our guests were placed in and apologize to everyone.” He also said he would like to “unreservedly apologize” to Jordan and Lind. “We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism.” BAFTA also praised Mr. Davidson’s choice to walk out of the ceremony, thanking him for his “dignity and consideration for others.”
Read BAFTA’s full statement below.
At last night’s BAFTA Film Awards, guests heard extremely offensive language that has caused unparalleled trauma and pain to many. We acknowledge the damage this has caused and would like to report what happened and apologize to everyone.
One of our guests, John Davidson MBE, has Tourette’s Syndrome and has dedicated his life to educating and campaigning for greater understanding of the disease. Tourette syndrome causes involuntary verbal tics that the person cannot control. These tics are in no way a reflection of personal beliefs and are not intentional. John Davidson is the executive producer of I Swear, a BAFTA nominated film based on his own life experiences.
We take our duty of care to all guests very seriously and start with an inclusive position. We took steps to make attendees aware of tics and announced to the audience before and throughout the ceremony that John would be in the room and that strong words, involuntary noises, and movements could be heard during the ceremony.
Early in the ceremony, many people in the room heard loud ticking sounds that sounded like very offensive words. Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage at the time, and we sincerely apologize to them and everyone affected. I would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism.
During the ceremony, John chose to leave the auditorium and watch the rest of the ceremony from a screen. We would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration for others on what was supposed to be a night of celebration for him.
We take full responsibility for putting our customers in a very difficult situation and apologize to everyone. We will learn from this, put inclusion at the heart of everything we do, and maintain our belief that film and storytelling are important conduits for compassion and empathy.
