Britain’s film academy and the BBC apologized to viewers after an audience member with Tourette syndrome shouted a racial slur during the British Academy Film Awards.
The offensive word could be heard as “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for best visual effects during Sunday’s ceremony.
Host Alan Cumming had earlier told the audience that a guest at the ceremony was John Davidson, a Scottish campaigner for people with Tourette’s who inspired the BAFTA-nominated film “I Swear.”
“I Swear” won two BAFTAs, including best actor for Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson.
Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary, repetitive movements and vocalizations, including the uttering of inappropriate words.
After the outburst, Cumming apologized to the audience at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the “strong and offensive language.”
“Tourette syndrome is a disability and the tics you have heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language,” Cumming said. “We apologize if you were offended.”
Stuart Wilson/BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said in a statement Monday that it wanted to “acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all.”
“We take the duty of care to all our guests very seriously and start from a position of inclusion,” the academy said. “We 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.”
After the incident, the academy said Davidson “chose to leave the auditorium and watch the rest of the ceremony from a screen, and we would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.”
The academy extended an apology to Jordan and Lindo, and thanked them for “their incredible dignity and professionalism.”
The epithet could be heard when the BBC broadcast the ceremony about two hours after the live event.
The broadcaster apologized, though the offensive word could still be heard on its streaming service on Monday morning. The program was later removed, and the BBC said the slur would be edited out.
“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional,” the BBC said in a statement. “We apologize that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Ed Palmer, vice chairman of the charity Tourettes Action, said the BBC should have considered bleeping out the slur.
“This is really one of the most acute examples of where something that is a disability can cause quite understandably huge amounts of offense to someone,” he told Times Radio. “So, if it’s being prerecorded now, then bleeping it out, for example, might be a reasonable compromise.”
