John Davidson says homophobic slur he shouted at Alan Cumming was edited out from Baftas broadcast
I Swear inspiration John Davidson has revealed the BBC removed a homophobic slur he aimed at host Alan Cumming during the Baftas broadcast.
Davidson, who suffers from Tourette’s with coprolalia, which causes him to involuntarily shout obscenities, heckled the N-word in the direction of Sinners stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan during the ceremony and was not edited out of the BBC broadcast.
While there was a two-hour delay, the BBC did not pick up on the derogatory language he shouted at the two actors while they presented an award, despite their visible reaction, but has since apologised and removed the broadcast from iPlayer.
In a new interview with Variety, Davidson said he felt let down by the BBC for allowing it to air, stating, “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.”
The BBC’s content chief, Kate Phillips, apologised to staff at the broadcasting corporation on February 24th, writing, “I’m so sorry that a racial slur was not edited out of our broadcast. We understand how distressing this was.”
Phillips also revealed that the “edit team removed another racial slur from the broadcast” and maintained that the one directed at Lindo and Jordan “was aired in error and we would never have knowingly allowed this to be broadcast”.
Now, Davidson has explained that he also shouted obscenities at host Cumming during the ceremony, which was removed from the television broadcast.
He told Variety that he is “often triggered by what I see and/or what I hear, and this part of the condition is called echolalia”, before sharing as an example of his tics, “Alan Cumming joked about his own sexuality and, when referencing Paddington Bear, said, ‘Maybe you would like to come home with me, Paddington. It wouldn’t be the first time I have taken a hairy Peruvian bear home with me.’ This resulted in homophobic tics from me and led to a shout of ‘paedophile’ that was likely triggered because Paddington Bear is a children’s character.”
Davidson continued, “I would appreciate reports of the event explaining that I ticked perhaps 10 different offensive words on the night of the awards. The N-word was one of these, and I completely understand its significance in history and in the modern world, but most articles are giving the impression I shouted one single slur on Sunday.”
During the ceremony, Cumming twice acknowledged Davidson’s ticks and explained to those in attendance, “Tourette’s Syndrome is a disability and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette’s Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologise if you are offended tonight.”
The 54-year-old voluntarily left the ceremony shortly after the incident with the Sinners stars and watched the rest of the Baftas unfold on a screen in a room backstage. He added of the involuntary use of the slur, “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 wanted to hide — just get away from all the eyes.”
Davidson also stated that the backlash he has faced following the Baftas has been “deeply upsetting” and “show there is still so much to do” in regards to educating the public on Tourette’s.
His team has confirmed to Variety that Davidson has reached out to Lindo and Jordan.
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