‘I Swear’ Subject John Davidson Says Tourette’s Tics Are ‘Involuntary’ After Shouting N-Word at BAFTAs: ‘Deeply Mortified if Anyone’ Thinks It Was ‘Intentional’
https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/i-swear-john-davidson-deeply-mortified-shouting-n-word-baftas-1236670082/
Posted by nimobo
31 Comments
His condition has been documented since he was a child.
I don’t understand this entire situation. He has a tic, so a lot of the time he says horrible shit out loud. This man shouldn’t need to apologise for having an involuntary tic.
The BBC failed him and the guests who were offended.
How they let it be broadcast is a testament to how far their standards have fallen.
There was a two hour delay between the ceremony and the broadcast
They edited out “free Palestine”
They chose to keep this in.
The bbc have manufactured outrage against this man
Jamie Foxx only too happy to get involved on this when he has no idea what he’s talking about
It’s terrible he has to clarify this really, the stupidity of some of the comments in the last 24 hours has been staggering. Looking at you Jamie Foxx
I wouldn’t be annoyed if a deaf person didn’t hear me so I can’t see why I’d be annoyed if a turettes sufferer called me a cunt
Jesus fucking Christ, this situation has been exacerbated into an international scandal because Americans are predisposed towards histrionics and American solipsism.
The word is abhorrent but there are no victims in this situation because it’s an involuntary tic. No malice, no intention. The world would be a better place if the rest of the world told Americans to just shut up and sit down now and then.
And yeah, you’re supposed to ignore it and move on.
It’s so sad that in 2026 people still don’t understand how Tourette’s Syndrome actually works. It’s not like there hasn’t been a truck load of awareness around this.
The only plebs who think it was intentional seem to be American and the ignorant (of any country). If you were confused / offended after heating this in reality, whilst at an awards ceremony which covered a film based on Tourette’s, you surely to Jeebus would do a bit of research on the condition before playing fake offended on behalf of someone else.
The bit that gets me the most is the fact that they edited out someone saying free Palestine but didn’t edit out someone saying the n word lol. Just seems incredibly bizarre
Americans have made this situation what it is, a place where attitudes regarding both racism and education combined with monumental cultural ignorance have made this poor man’s life even more difficult than it already was.
The whole thing is a storm in a teacup.
As somebody who watched “John’s not mad” when it first aired, calling his mum a c*nt was pretty amazing.
As others have said, it is uncontrolled and not a thinking thing. Totally bullshit.
I think it’s telling that people say to have more empathy towards the sufferer, which is fair, but none for the two people embarrassed by the slur on stage. The implication of being called that word while on stage hosting smth as prestigious as the BAFTAs is immense and I hate how dismissive people are. IMO there should have been an apology, at least an ‘excuse me, sorry’ the way people apologise after other involuntary reactions like burping…
Doesn’t surprise me that the country which gatekeeps healthcare for the wealthy would have a dogshit attitude towards disability.
John, only stupid or ignorant people think it was intentional. Don’t even worry about it.
I’ve seen so many armchair experts on social media try to spin this to be his fault. Ablism is alive and well, and it’s frankly vile. I’ve even seen people question “why that word was in his vocabulary” as if he hasn’t consumed any piece of media in the last 50 years.
He was a quiet trailblazer on Tourette’s long before public understanding was fashionable. His 1988 BBC documentary [(Link)](https://youtu.be/wxfJDpd3XcY) dragged the condition into the light, showing how it isolates sufferers and confuses those who do not understand it. It likely helped parents recognise similar tics in their own children and seek proper support.
The recent outburst should never have become an issue. The fault lies with the editing team working on behalf of the BBC – who apparently ignored requests from Warner Bros and others to remove it from the coverage, creating a needless controversy and dumping unwanted attention on someone with Tourette’s.
Verbal tics can be shaped by suggestion, with words planted like a Citizen Kane rosebud style trigger, ready to go off at exactly the wrong moment. Whether that happened here is unclear, but the failure re the editing team overseeing the coverage to edit it out is not.
America’s treatment of this man and lack of understanding of his disability is absolutely sickening.
My respect towards Americans is already pretty low thanks to who they have in the White House but it just keeps absolutely nosediving.
He has a disability. He did nothing wrong. Yet there are Americans wishing for him to be strung up for it.
The incident shows the hypocracy of some of the people, that they can watch a film about a subject, yet have no understanding of it.
What this whole situation tells me is that an awful lot of people haven’t seen the film which he was there accepting a Best Actor Bafta for.
Perhaps if they had, they’d understand his disability a bit better.
If people are that offended, funnel your money into research for treatment and/or cure
On a night celebrating a film based on his Tourette’s, everybody demonstrates they still don’t understand it.
If you’ve been called the slur, while being whipped while working on a plantation. I’d say it’s fair to be offended by this.
Anyone else is a softy bollocks and need to grow up.
I’m stunned how many people don’t understand tourettes
Someone should make a documentary about it, so there’s more understanding.
Poor bloke
You must have a brain the size of a pea to think it was in any way intentional.
If only there were an award winning biopic people could watch that would help them understand his situation.
Most people only ever deal with two types of insults that arise from choices people make – I said something to offend you intentionally, or I said something to offend you inadvertently (out of ignorance). And accountability is expected for both of those things (what people are calling intent vs impact).
John’s condition (Tourette’s with coprolalia) is a third thing people aren’t used to: someone who says what might be most offensive to you and doesn’t want to say it and actively tries not to, but is compelled to. You still have impact, but no real choice or meaning to hurt. People are ascribing to him an ability he simply doesn’t possess, which is to choose which speech is out of bounds – in fact, the more out of bounds it is, the more likely he’ll be to say it for that reason. The audience should have been much better informed about this, and frankly should have been told to expect the worst insults they could imagine, so anything less than that would be a bonus.
Everyone saying he must have meant it really, it’s just an excuse, it’s so convenient he said it at that time, is contributing to creating an environment he won’t be physically safe in. Gay people can shout homophobic things, Jewish people antisemitic things, religious people blasphemous things, to their own great distress, with this condition. It will not spare what is the most hurtful to you, and you can’t expect it to, nor does a man deserve punishment for not being able to change that.
The whole thing just highlights Americans being physically unable to understand that there are more minorities in the world than American Black.
Some of the things I’ve heard them say has a staggering amount of ignorance and hate included.
Ironically, some of the things they say, are the exact things they are upset about happening to black people as well.
If you are a racist, you are a piece of shit. If you are ableist you are a piece of shit. Anyone who tries to blame the bloke for his disability is a dickhead. Absolutely wankers the lot of them.
anyone who thinks it is intentional and voluntary is an idiot.