The Tourette’s campaigner who shouted out the N-word at the Bafta Film Awards has questioned why a microphone was placed so near him in the auditorium.
John Davidson yelled the slur as the Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for special visual effects at London‘s Royal Festival Hall.
The Hollywood stars looked shocked but the word remained in the BBC‘s broadcast which aired with a two-hour delay on Sunday before being uploaded to iPlayer.
Mr Davidson left the theatre soon after but said producers should have done more to stop any of his tics making the broadcast, given he was 40 rows back from the stage.
He had been at the Baftas representing the film, I Swear, which tells the story of the Scottish campaigner’s life with the condition, which he developed when he was 12.
Reflecting on the incident in a new interview with Variety yesterday, Mr Davidson said the movie’s distributors StudioCanal had been ‘working closely with Bafta, and Bafta had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast’.
He added: ‘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.
‘As I reflect on the auditorium, 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.’
John Davidson at the Bafta Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday
Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo present the Special Visual Effects Award on stage during the Bafta Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday, when the slur was shouted out
He also said the backlash he has received shows the ‘importance of people seeing the film and understanding more about an incredibly complex neurological condition’.
Mr Davidson continued: ‘I had an expectation that the BBC would physically control the sound at the awards on Sunday. 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.
‘The only time I became aware that my tic had reached the stage was when Delroy and Michael B Jordan appeared to look up from their role as presenters, and soon after that I decided to leave the auditorium.
‘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.’
Mr Davidson further revealed he also called host Alan Cumming a ‘paedophile’ during the broadcast.
He said that at first his tics were ‘noises and movements, but the more nervous I got, the more my tics ramped up’.
Mr Davidson added that as his coprolalia, which causes involuntary swearing and inappropriate language, came out, ‘my stomach just dropped’.
He previously said in a statement that he was ‘deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning’.
The BBC has apologised for not editing out the N-word, while senior executive Kate Phillips told staff in an email that she was ‘so very sorry’ and the corporation understands ‘how distressing’ it was.
Coprolalia makes Mr Davidson involuntarily say socially inappropriate words or phrases, including when he famously shouted ‘f*** the Queen’ at Elizabeth II when he was awarded his MBE in 2019.
And when his car was being searched by police on entry to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Mr Davidson involuntarily yelled: ‘A bomb! I’ve got a f***ing bomb!’
Meanwhile Labour MP Dawn Butler has accused the BBC of ‘an obvious bias’ and a ‘failure of duty of care’.
The MP for Brent Central said the slur ‘should never have been aired’ and described its broadcast as ‘painful and unforgivable’.
She has also written to outgoing director-general Tim Davie asking for an explanation on why it was left in.
It is understood people from Warner Bros, the film studio behind Sinners, spoke directly with Bafta staff following the incident during the ceremony and requested it be removed from the broadcast.
Warner Bros representatives are said to have been reassured this request would be passed on and Bafta was in touch with the studio throughout the evening.
Warner Bros, the BBC, production company Penny Lane and Bafta have been contacted for comment.
Bafta judge Jonte Richardson is stepping down over the academy’s handling of the incident
The film I Swear stars Robert Aramayo as John Davidson. The actor was named EE Rising Star
Meanwhile, film-maker Jonte Richardson said he was stepping down as a Bafta judge over the academy’s handling of the incident.
In a statement on LinkedIn, Richardson said he felt ‘compelled to withdraw from the Bafta emerging talent judging panel’.
During the broadcast, the awards ceremony’s presenter Cumming apologised for the language viewers may have heard.
Bafta apologised for the incident on Monday night and said it takes ‘full responsibility’ for putting its guests in a ‘difficult situation’.
Bafta also apologised ‘unreservedly’ to Jordan and Lindo, and ‘to all those impacted’, adding: ‘We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism.’
I Swear stars Robert Aramayo, who won best actor for his performance in the film, which also won best casting. He was also named EE Rising Star.
Mr Davidson’s lifelong friend and former girlfriend Susan Gibson has defended him, saying: ‘With his Tourette’s, it is totally involuntary. He will come out and shout things that you are not meant to say.
‘I have had John in my life for many a year and I think this has taken the light away from the many achievements that he has already had. For someone to make this about the N-word is wrong.
‘Yes of course it is not a nice word. I think it has been taken out of proportion and the BBC should hold themselves responsible for their role in this.
‘It should have been taken out before it went out on the air and this situation would not have been as bad for John.’
Ms Gibson added: ‘I recall a time once when John was beaten up for calling someone a sl*t. The girl wasn’t a sl*t, he knew that, but he couldn’t help what he had said, and he was beaten up so badly that he ended up in hospital.’
Mr Davidson’s sister Sylvia McGill added her support both for her brother and Aramayo.
She said: ‘It is raw for John and raw for all of us. It has also taken away from Robert slightly and he deserved it to be about him that night.’
Yesterday, the Telegraph’s senior culture writer Liam Kelly revealed I Swear director Kirk Jones said he had ‘lengthy meetings’ with Bafta before the ceremony.
Recalling their chat on February 13, Mr Kelly wrote today: ‘When we spoke in a Bristol café nine days beforehand, Jones told me that there had been ‘lengthy meetings with Bafta’ about making sure that Davidson would feel comfortable on Sunday night.
‘If I Swear had won the outstanding British film award (which ended up going to Hamnet), Jones would have collected the statuette with Davidson. I asked what would happen if he experienced a tic on stage, in front of millions.’
The journalist said Mr Jones replied: ‘I did ask that question. I said, ‘What if he sees Leonardo DiCaprio and he shouts ‘You c**t!’ or something?’ I think it’s an hour delay. But it could be an interesting night.’
