The BAFTAs celebration was overshadowed this year by a poor attempt at "inclusivity," which directly impacted the Black community when John Davidson used racial slurs against Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they were on stage.
John Davidson, who has Tourette Syndrome, was invited to the event to celebrate the launch of the documentary about his life and condition, I Swear. Tourette's commonly causes people to make involuntary noises and gestures, and those who also have Coprolalia will frequently use profanity and other offensive words.
Tourette's hacks the part of the brain where we file away inappropriate and often "taboo" words, phrases, subjects, and physical gestures. While most of us can stop ourselves from verbalizing certain words, those with Tourette's cannot—not because it's how they really feel, but because of where these words and gestures are filed away in their brains.
So when John Davidson made a series of inappropriate comments throughout the night, most fellow attendees understood that this was involuntary, part of his condition, and not a reflection of his personality or personal beliefs.
However, that does not change how harmful it was for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo to be called the N-word while up on stage to present an award, in front of a live audience. Jordan and Lindo stood in shock for a moment before continuing with the program.
But the damage was done, and the moment was made worse when the BBC later aired the event with the moment intact. It's important to note that they cut other moments, such as Akinola Davies Jr.'s comments to "Free Palestine" while accepting an award, and some of Davidson's other comments, such as calling Alan Cumming a "pedophile" while he was on stage.
Since the event took place last month, most people have been understanding about Davidson having an involuntary condition and that this is not a reflection of who he is as a person. However, unintentional harm is still harmful, and apologies should have been made, especially to Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who were the most directly impacted by the comments.
On Saturday at the NAACP Awards, Sinners actress Jayme Lawson was asked about the incident and how it was handled.
Though she had nothing negative to say about Davidson, she did have serious questions for the BAFTAs and BBC.
“I’ll first say a big shoutout to Mike and Delroy. Let’s continue to honor them for how they handled that in real time, the grace and the dignity that they exercised, and the whole home team. Everybody who was out there really carried themselves well.”
“The events this weekend exposed a couple things institutionally. We still don’t understand what inclusion means; just because you invite someone into a space, but you don’t provide the necessary resources to keep them and everyone else in that room safe by them being there, that’s not inclusivity. That’s exploitation."
"That man’s disability got exploited that night, and it led to multiple offenses. That’s the BAFTAs’ fault.”
“And then the BBC, to air what they aired is careless. Like, a real lack of care was exercised for those two Black men, and we know the BBC knows how to take care of what they care about, because they censored a bunch of other… They went so far as to make sure certain things weren’t topics of conversation. They censored Akinola’s speech.”
“So, you censored one Black man, you failed to protect two others, and our production designer, Hannah [Beachler]."
"You do not care for our dignity, our humanity. You want to celebrate our art, but you won’t protect [it or us].”
You can listen to Lawson's statement here:
Viewers wholeheartedly agreed with Lawson's comments.
The next day, on Sunday's Actor Awards red carpet, Wunmi Mosaku continued the conversation, agreeing fully with Lawson's observations from the day before.
"I was there, and it was painful to have that celebration really tainted for me, you know?"
"I have no hard feeling toward John Davidson at all; he has a condition. I feel like BAFTA has a lot of lessons to learn.”
“I think Jayme Lawson said it yesterday; it felt exploitative and performative to have someone there without the full protection of everyone, including him, and anyone in that audience, there were children in that audience."
"That’s one thing, and the BBC is a whole other thing. That’s the bit that really kind of kept me awake at night and brought tears to my eyes. I was like: ‘You really chose to keep that in?’ I can’t understand it, and I’m not sure I can forgive it.”
You can listen to Mosaku's statement here:
Viewers similarly agreed with Mosaku's comments.
While the BAFTAs tried to be inclusive, this incident only highlights how much work needs to be done so that everyone feels safe and respected.
@JamesTate121/X
