John Davidson has said he will “never apologise for having Tourette syndrome” as he issued a fresh statement a week after a BAFTAs ceremony in London where he involuntarily shouted a racial slur while standing near the stage during a live broadcast.
The Tourette’s campaigner, who has been involved in raising awareness about tic disorders, was attending the awards after a film inspired by his life, I Swear, was nominated. During the ceremony, actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were presenting an award when Davidson’s vocal tics were heard, including the slur, prompting an immediate backlash from viewers and renewed scrutiny of how the broadcast and the event were handled.
In a Facebook post quoted by LADbible, Davidson said he had waited “until the dust settles” before speaking publicly. “I would like to thank each and every one of you who have shown love, support and solidarity towards myself and the rest of the Tourette’s Community,” he wrote, adding that while he would not apologise for having Tourette syndrome, “I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.”
Davidson described the week after the incident as difficult and said it had reinforced that Tourette syndrome remained widely misunderstood. “This past week has been tough, and has reminded me that what I do raising awareness for such a misunderstood condition, there is still a long way to go and I will keep on keeping on until this is achieved,” he wrote, ending his message with: “Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou I love you all.”
The incident also drew criticism of both BAFTA and the BBC, with anger focused on the decision for the slur to be left in the broadcast edit. According to reporting and accounts of the controversy, the ceremony was aired with a delay, yet the slur remained audible while other material was censored, fueling complaints from viewers and campaigners about editorial judgement and duty of care to those on stage and watching.
BAFTA issued an apology, saying: “We take 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.”
The BBC also apologised for the broadcast and said its Executive Complaints Unit would carry out a “fast-tracked investigation” into what happened. AP reported that the BBC planned to remove the slur from its iPlayer streaming service.
Lindo later addressed the incident publicly at the NAACP Image Awards, where he received a standing ovation when he spoke about the controversy. Quoted remarks attributed to him in LADbible described the episode as: “It’s a classic case of something that could have been very negative becoming very positive. Thank you so much for the support.”
The public reaction has been divided, with some voices stressing that tics are involuntary and others arguing that the harm caused by hearing the slur cannot be dismissed. In an AP report examining the response among Black people with Tourette syndrome, Chloe Winston, 24, who experiences coprolalia, said: “It’s been pretty difficult because I feel like there’s such a clash between both sides. A tic is not intentional, but it still causes harm. And I think that does require accountability.”
The controversy has also prompted renewed discussion of what Tourette syndrome is, and how it is often portrayed. Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by motor and vocal tics. Coprolalia, the involuntary utterance of obscene or socially unacceptable words or phrases, is a highly publicised but minority feature of Tourette syndrome, with estimates varying across organisations and studies.
Medical and advocacy sources commonly emphasise that coprolalia is not required for diagnosis and is experienced by a subset of those with the condition, while many people with Tourette syndrome have other motor and vocal tics such as movements or repeated sounds.
AP quoted Dr Jeremiah Scharf, a tic-disorder specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, describing tics as involuntary and, for some people, profoundly distressing when they involve offensive language. Speaking generally about coprolalia, he said: “Unfortunately, for this subset of people, it is incredibly disabling because they don’t want to say those things. It’s very distressing to them. They feel significant remorse about it.”
The incident has also carried particular weight for Black people with Tourette syndrome, who described being caught between advocacy against ableism and the lived reality of racial harm. AP reported that some worried misinformation and stereotypes could worsen discrimination, including racial profiling, for Black people with tic disorders, while others said empathy for Tourette syndrome should not come at the expense of acknowledging the harm of the slur.
Actors and public figures weighed in as the debate spread online. In LADbible’s account of responses, Jamie Foxx posted critical comments beneath an Instagram post about the incident, writing: “Nah he meant that s**t,” and adding in another comment: “Out of all the words you could’ve said, Tourette’s makes you say that?”
Wendell Pierce, who starred in The Wire, also criticised the early response, writing on X: “It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full throatted [sic] apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan. The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning for the racist slur.”
Robert Aramayo, who portrays Davidson in I Swear and was reported to have won awards at the ceremony, defended him in remarks quoted by LADbible. “First of all, there are tics. He is ticcing. We have to understand. The way we perceive Tourette’s is a joint responsibility,” Aramayo said. “It’s not shouting obscenities. It’s not being abusive. It’s Tourette’s. They are tics. If it can lead to a deeper understanding of Tourette’s, and movies are part of that conversation, then it’s an incredible thing.”
The Guardian reported that people with Tourette syndrome expressed varying views, with some arguing Davidson’s outburst was not deliberate and others pointing to how the moment exposed gaps in planning and inclusion at high-profile live events. One person with Tourette syndrome told the newspaper the outbursts were not deliberate, while the broader discussion returned repeatedly to whether organisers and broadcasters should have anticipated the risk and acted more quickly to protect those on stage and in the audience.
For Davidson, the latest statement framed his response as both an apology for the impact of his condition and a refusal to accept blame for having it. He said he had been sustained by support from the Tourette’s community and reiterated his commitment to advocacy, while BAFTA and the BBC face ongoing questions over how a moment involving a known medical condition was managed in a global broadcast watched by millions.