The British Academy Film Awards and the BBC issued apologies Monday after a series of audible outbursts from an attendee with Tourette syndrome, including a racial slur yelled while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were onstage.
Jordan and Lindo, the stars of “Sinners,” were presenting the best visual effects award at the 79th annual awards show when John Davidson, a Tourette’s campaigner, could be heard shouting. The actors, who are Black, appeared to pause for a beat after a racial slur was yelled, before they continued their presentation of the first award of the night at the London award show.
Davidson is the inspiration for the BAFTA-nominated “I Swear,” on which he also served as an executive producer. The film follows the story of his Tourette syndrome diagnosis at the age of 25, his struggles and his journey to raise public awareness. The title is a nod to his uncontrollable swearing, a symptom of the syndrome.
The incident has sparked outrage in the film community and online over BAFTA and the BBC’s decision not to cut the racial slur and swearing from the initial broadcast, despite the show airing with a two-hour delay. Several A-listers, including actor Jamie Foxx, called the incident “unacceptable” in a post about it on Instagram.
Both BAFTA and the BBC said the “offensive language” was a result of Davidson’s Tourette syndrome. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines the syndrome as “a condition of the nervous system that causes people to make sudden and repeated twitches, movements, or sounds, called ‘tics.’”
"Tourette Syndrome causes involuntary verbal tics, that the individual has no control over," BAFTA said in its statement, after noting it "acknowledge[s] the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all." The awards show specifically thanked Jordan and Lindo, describing them as handling the situation with "incredible dignity and professionalism."
NBC News has viewed the moment from the show. A broadcast of the ceremony that aired in the United States on E! did not appear to bleep the slur. The BBC, which provided an initial apology statement Sunday, said it removed the language from the version of the show that’s available on BBC iPlayer on Monday.
Neither the BBC nor BAFTA addressed why the slur was not deleted during the initial telecast.
"Such tics are in no way a reflection of an individual’s beliefs and are not intentional," BAFTA said, adding that it "took measures to make those in attendance aware of the tics, announcing to the audience before the ceremony began, and throughout, that John was in the room and that they may hear strong language, involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony."
“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards 2026,” a BBC spokesperson said. “This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and was not intentional. We apologise for any offence caused by the language heard.”
Representatives for Jordan and Lindo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for Versant, which owns E!, also did not respond to inquiries before and after its telecast about the slur.
The news of the outbursts was first reported by Variety, which was in the room at London’s Royal Festival Hall as the show was being recorded. The outlet also reported that during the show, someone also shouted “shut the f--- up” as BAFTA Chair Sara Putt gave an introductory speech and “f--- you” when the award for best children’s and family film was being accepted.
The show’s host, Alan Cumming, acknowledged the “strong and offensive language” several times and thanked the audience for their understanding.
“You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience,” Cumming said. “Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone.”
Later in the show, Cumming added: “If you have seen the film ‘I Swear,’ you will know that film is about the experience of a person with Tourette syndrome. 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 apologize if you were offended.”
“I Swear,” which received critical acclaim in the United Kingdom — with Robert Aramayo snagging a win in the best actor category Sunday — is not set to open in U.S. theaters until spring. Sony Pictures Classics, which picked up the distribution rights, says on its website that the movie will roll out April 24.
The film’s director, Kirk Jones, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Sony Pictures Classic and Bankside Films, which distributed the movie in the U.K., also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. NBC News did not immediately hear back from a message sent to Davidson’s personal Instagram account.
When Aramayo accepted his award for his depiction of Davidson, he described him as “the most remarkable man I ever met.”
“He’s so forthcoming with education and he believes there should be still so much more we need to learn about Tourette’s,” he said. “For people living with Tourette’s, it’s us around them who help them define what their experience is. So, to quote the film, they need support and understanding.”
Some online, including some who identify themselves as people with Tourette’s, echoed Aramayo and Cumming’s requests for grace toward people with the condition. Others doubled down on their support for Davidson.
“What happened at the #BAFTAs was unfortunate, but the ignorant disgust directed towards fellow sufferer John Davidson (including by some actors including #JamieFoxx) is thoroughly unwarranted,” wrote one X user who said identified himself as someone with MS and epilepsy.“ He, like I, cannot control his vocalisations. Like other sufferers I’ve faced revulsion, discrimination, and even threats of violence as a result of some of my vocalisations.”
“But sufferers like me don’t deserve to be told we shouldn’t go to certain places, attend events, walk in the streets, or even leave the house,” he added.
Another X user wrote, “Depressing amounts of ableism from people you’d expect to know better, no compassion, no solidarity, just people ranting selfishly on issues they are monstrously uninformed on. John Davidson has a neurodevelopmental disorder he physically can not help what he says.”
But many in Hollywood said to defend Davidson diminishes the pain the situation caused. This year’s BAFTAs was meant to be celebratory for “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler, who became the first Black man to win best original screenplay. The vampire thriller won three awards in all.
Hannah Beachler, the production designer for “Sinners,” who was at the awards ceremony, went online to criticize Cumming’s apology and said she also experienced Davidson’s involuntary slurs. In a post on X, she called the situation “almost impossible” and noted that the outbursts happened three times, “one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show.”
“And a third time at a Black woman,” she wrote in a post on X. “I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. 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.”
Beachler added: “Of course we were offended…but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I am not steel, this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can’t take away from who I am as an artist.”
Journalist Jemele Hill also weighed in, writing in a post on X that “Asking for more grace for the person who shouted a racist slur instead of for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who had to push through being embarrassed in front of their peers. But that’s often the expectation — that Black people are just supposed to be ok with being disrespected and dehumanized so that other people don’t feel bad.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair after the Warner Bros. BAFTA afterparty, Lindo said he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while presenting. He told the publication he wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterwards.”
The NAACP posted its support for the two actors on Instagram, writing in a caption of a photo of the "Sinners" stars that they "deserve dignity and respect, not to be subjected to racial slurs."
"While their professionalism onstage at the #BAFTAs was admirable, they shouldn’t have had to endure that," the caption said. "'Staying calm' shouldn’t be a prerequisite for Black talent to exist in these spaces."
Some people said the criticism should be focused on the BAFTAs and the BBC, suggesting how the situation was handled was hurtful to both the actors and Davidson.
“I’m still in shock how that slur was left in in the replay of the BAFTAs they had time to edit it out and didn’t is so wild to me,” U.K.-based actress and singer Marisha Wallace wrote on X. “Not only hurtful to the man who said it but also the actors and people of color who had to hear it. It’s just insane. How?”
“Inclusion means protecting disabled voicesAND Black audiencesBBC compliance stepup,” added another X user.
In their statement, BAFTA said it takes "full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologise to all. We will learn from this, and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy."
CORRECTION (Feb. 23, 2026, 10:03 ET): A previous version of this article misstated the last name of the BAFTA host. His name is Alan Cumming, not Cummings.
