Bafta awards controversy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if he had been told that people had been made aware of his condition or that he thought they would have some awareness due to the movie. I would think (based on him doing so in the movie) that he would have had that conversation about informing the audience before hand. It probably was a shock to him too to realize that people didn't know and thought he was just an angry racist being hateful towards presenters and others. He probably assumed during his first few vocalizations that people were informed and understood this would happen. Maybe it wasn't until the n word vocalization that he realized many didn't know and so that is when he left.

Nobody is saying they weren't warned or didn't get a heads up except for a stubborn poster here. But what the two men have said is that they wished it was handled better after the moment. That's what they're upset about. Maybe it's an apology or acknowledgement but none of it was this weird "we had no idea!" that someone keeps whining about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live in a country where some families did send their children with disabilities away as it was seen as embarrassing and a poor reflection on the family to have a child who didn't conform to social norms. So I am not surprised that many would do the same here or expect others with disabilities to remove themselves from society to ensure their own comfort and to avoid any disruptions. Here though people would be caught between the embarrassment of having a child who doesn't conform to social norms and the embarrassment of people judging them for sending away their child as that isn't a social norm here for parents. I think there are many people who are still very uncomfortable with people with disabiliites and their tolerance is very low, mostly due to ignorance.

Thankfully for John's sake, the movie has already had its premier and press tour - and he attended and was met with kindness and acceptance and understanding by the UK press and audiences. The movie received very positive reviews. I think this reaction by American public probably caught him off guard. Especially as most who have gone after him didn't even watch the BAFTAs but just saw a headline or two online.

You really didn’t have to watch the entire BAFTAs to know what happened here. A 30 second clip is enough to see two men get a racial slur yelled at them in front of a silent room full of people. And the reason we can watch it is that the BAFTAs had no problem showing that incredibly embarrassing interaction to millions of people.

Incredibly embarrassing? Bizarre word choice. Most people saw it as shocking and horrifying. Not embarrassing. And Davidson was mortified. It's weird that so many people had never heard of Tourettes until this moment.

Mortified is a synonym for embarrassed. Your semantics add nothing to the conversation.

Oh really? You're outraged over an embarrassing moment? An embarrassing moment is a fart let loose, not this. Words matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're telling me that due to coprolalia, he has absolutely no control over his outbursts... yet his brain is "automatically" able to tailor a specific insult for a specific recipient?

Black people: Ns
Queen: f the queen

What's next?
SA survivors: "you f'ing deserved it"
Women PhDs: "dumb w---res"
Person in wheelchair: "cripple"

Really?

I'd maybe buy it if he called everyone Ns or hoes. But this just seems too far fetched.

Why does his brain go there, lol

Watch the movie.

The movie is all about how hard this is for HIM. Even the scene where he gets punched in the bar. Well... he threw a drink on a stranger. How do you think that felt for the poor guy who just wanted to have a good time and a random guy douses you with beer for no reason?

The movie wants to convince us that "good, loving" people should embrace his outbursts. Like when he says stuff like "I put c-m in your drink" and they're all "awww! That's adorable!" It's not. I have children and I can't imagine asking my 8 year old daughter to put up with someone yelling "suck my d--k!" to her. That's not civilized. That's disgusting.

Okay sure. But what would you do if it was your daughter or son with this disorder and they were the ones yelling out obscenities and socially inappropriate things. What if was them having involuntary movement tics and knocking things? What if it was your child saying those words to others? Would you just be disgusted by them and keep them home? How would you protect their siblings? What would you do with your uncivlized child? Picture your kids - where would you send them away to to ensure they didn't bother anyone?

Omg I’d love them and get them all the help I could, and I ALSO wouldn’t bring them to a funeral of a young child knowing that they would probably involuntarily yell out horrific things about the deceased and add layers of grief to the mourners. For one extreme example. There is a middle ground between “they belong in every environment and people have to deal!” And “lock them in a padded room”

Yes, there is. So where do you think an awards show for a movie about his life would fall on your spectrum?

The movie about his life, believe it or not, was NOT the only film being honored there. And if I’m not mistaken , he was not acting in the film nor was he directing the film. Right? So he was the subject of a film. He is not the star of the BAFTAs. So in my hypothetical, yeah, I’d encourage my child to sit that one out in the lobby of the venue. Now if he was receiving a lifetime achievement award from the BAFTAs and was literally the guest of honor getting the most prestigious award then I’d feel differently. But he was not!

So you think being the subject of a film is...not a big deal? I guess you know a lot more important people than I do. Because in my world, having a film made about your and your disability would be a pretty big deal.

[Anonymous]

https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-bafta-n-word-interview-1236671850/

John responds. I hesitate to post it as it may just direct more hate his way but I believe he has a right to have a voice and an opinion about his own experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're telling me that due to coprolalia, he has absolutely no control over his outbursts... yet his brain is "automatically" able to tailor a specific insult for a specific recipient?

Black people: Ns
Queen: f the queen

What's next?
SA survivors: "you f'ing deserved it"
Women PhDs: "dumb w---res"
Person in wheelchair: "cripple"

Really?

I'd maybe buy it if he called everyone Ns or hoes. But this just seems too far fetched.

Why does his brain go there, lol

Watch the movie.

The movie is all about how hard this is for HIM. Even the scene where he gets punched in the bar. Well... he threw a drink on a stranger. How do you think that felt for the poor guy who just wanted to have a good time and a random guy douses you with beer for no reason?

The movie wants to convince us that "good, loving" people should embrace his outbursts. Like when he says stuff like "I put c-m in your drink" and they're all "awww! That's adorable!" It's not. I have children and I can't imagine asking my 8 year old daughter to put up with someone yelling "suck my d--k!" to her. That's not civilized. That's disgusting.

Okay sure. But what would you do if it was your daughter or son with this disorder and they were the ones yelling out obscenities and socially inappropriate things. What if was them having involuntary movement tics and knocking things? What if it was your child saying those words to others? Would you just be disgusted by them and keep them home? How would you protect their siblings? What would you do with your uncivlized child? Picture your kids - where would you send them away to to ensure they didn't bother anyone?

DP: If it were my kid, I would teach them to be very quick and very good at apologizing, and working on empathy would be ongoing— because I would want them to be able to have the option of successfully navigating societal interactions with other people. It’s a given that in light of the disorder, they are going to bother and possibly disgust other people. I’d want them to have the best possible chance to interact positively with peers and the wider community. Social skills would also increase their safety .

It’s wild how many comments here are saying things like: you want to send them away. Nope. I’d want to teach them social skills and empathy to keep from sending them away. There is a middle ground — and it includes taking responsibility for the impact of one’s behavior on others.

The audacity of some of you to assume how you would handle this situation is stunning. You have NO idea what you would do.

Someone quite literally asked the question what we would do if it were our child

Yeah and maybe they hoped the people answering would have some actual real world experience. But lo, they got you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live in a country where some families did send their children with disabilities away as it was seen as embarrassing and a poor reflection on the family to have a child who didn't conform to social norms. So I am not surprised that many would do the same here or expect others with disabilities to remove themselves from society to ensure their own comfort and to avoid any disruptions. Here though people would be caught between the embarrassment of having a child who doesn't conform to social norms and the embarrassment of people judging them for sending away their child as that isn't a social norm here for parents. I think there are many people who are still very uncomfortable with people with disabiliites and their tolerance is very low, mostly due to ignorance.

Thankfully for John's sake, the movie has already had its premier and press tour - and he attended and was met with kindness and acceptance and understanding by the UK press and audiences. The movie received very positive reviews. I think this reaction by American public probably caught him off guard. Especially as most who have gone after him didn't even watch the BAFTAs but just saw a headline or two online.

You really didn’t have to watch the entire BAFTAs to know what happened here. A 30 second clip is enough to see two men get a racial slur yelled at them in front of a silent room full of people. And the reason we can watch it is that the BAFTAs had no problem showing that incredibly embarrassing interaction to millions of people.

Incredibly embarrassing? Bizarre word choice. Most people saw it as shocking and horrifying. Not embarrassing. And Davidson was mortified. It's weird that so many people had never heard of Tourettes until this moment.

Mortified is a synonym for embarrassed. Your semantics add nothing to the conversation.

Oh really? You're outraged over an embarrassing moment? An embarrassing moment is a fart let loose, not this. Words matter.

,

Words matter. You mean like the n-word? I think most of us would agree that words do indeed matter. That’s why we’re having this discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live in a country where some families did send their children with disabilities away as it was seen as embarrassing and a poor reflection on the family to have a child who didn't conform to social norms. So I am not surprised that many would do the same here or expect others with disabilities to remove themselves from society to ensure their own comfort and to avoid any disruptions. Here though people would be caught between the embarrassment of having a child who doesn't conform to social norms and the embarrassment of people judging them for sending away their child as that isn't a social norm here for parents. I think there are many people who are still very uncomfortable with people with disabiliites and their tolerance is very low, mostly due to ignorance.

Thankfully for John's sake, the movie has already had its premier and press tour - and he attended and was met with kindness and acceptance and understanding by the UK press and audiences. The movie received very positive reviews. I think this reaction by American public probably caught him off guard. Especially as most who have gone after him didn't even watch the BAFTAs but just saw a headline or two online.

You really didn’t have to watch the entire BAFTAs to know what happened here. A 30 second clip is enough to see two men get a racial slur yelled at them in front of a silent room full of people. And the reason we can watch it is that the BAFTAs had no problem showing that incredibly embarrassing interaction to millions of people.

Incredibly embarrassing? Bizarre word choice. Most people saw it as shocking and horrifying. Not embarrassing. And Davidson was mortified. It's weird that so many people had never heard of Tourettes until this moment.

Mortified is a synonym for embarrassed. Your semantics add nothing to the conversation.

Oh really? You're outraged over an embarrassing moment? An embarrassing moment is a fart let loose, not this. Words matter.

,

Words matter. You mean like the n-word? I think most of us would agree that words do indeed matter. That’s why we’re having this discussion.

Weird that now the concern has shifted to Davidson as the victim. He was embarrassed by his actions. I thought the presenters were the victims? And I don't think embarrassed is what came to their mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-bafta-n-word-interview-1236671850/

John responds. I hesitate to post it as it may just direct more hate his way but I believe he has a right to have a voice and an opinion about his own experience.

Probably a waste of breath at this point. People who didn't understand his disability before don't want to hear about it now and don't believe it's real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're telling me that due to coprolalia, he has absolutely no control over his outbursts... yet his brain is "automatically" able to tailor a specific insult for a specific recipient?

Black people: Ns
Queen: f the queen

What's next?
SA survivors: "you f'ing deserved it"
Women PhDs: "dumb w---res"
Person in wheelchair: "cripple"

Really?

I'd maybe buy it if he called everyone Ns or hoes. But this just seems too far fetched.

Why does his brain go there, lol

Watch the movie.

The movie is all about how hard this is for HIM. Even the scene where he gets punched in the bar. Well... he threw a drink on a stranger. How do you think that felt for the poor guy who just wanted to have a good time and a random guy douses you with beer for no reason?

The movie wants to convince us that "good, loving" people should embrace his outbursts. Like when he says stuff like "I put c-m in your drink" and they're all "awww! That's adorable!" It's not. I have children and I can't imagine asking my 8 year old daughter to put up with someone yelling "suck my d--k!" to her. That's not civilized. That's disgusting.

Are you for real? Getting doused with beer once in your life is a walk in the park compared to living with this disability. I mean, I can't even with you.

Having a drink thrown on you - completely unprovoked - is assault or battery in most jurisdictions. Are you saying that assault should be excused because the perpetrator a disability?

lol nope

"lol" yep, actually

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're telling me that due to coprolalia, he has absolutely no control over his outbursts... yet his brain is "automatically" able to tailor a specific insult for a specific recipient?

Black people: Ns
Queen: f the queen

What's next?
SA survivors: "you f'ing deserved it"
Women PhDs: "dumb w---res"
Person in wheelchair: "cripple"

Really?

I'd maybe buy it if he called everyone Ns or hoes. But this just seems too far fetched.

Why does his brain go there, lol

Watch the movie.

The movie is all about how hard this is for HIM. Even the scene where he gets punched in the bar. Well... he threw a drink on a stranger. How do you think that felt for the poor guy who just wanted to have a good time and a random guy douses you with beer for no reason?

The movie wants to convince us that "good, loving" people should embrace his outbursts. Like when he says stuff like "I put c-m in your drink" and they're all "awww! That's adorable!" It's not. I have children and I can't imagine asking my 8 year old daughter to put up with someone yelling "suck my d--k!" to her. That's not civilized. That's disgusting.

Okay sure. But what would you do if it was your daughter or son with this disorder and they were the ones yelling out obscenities and socially inappropriate things. What if was them having involuntary movement tics and knocking things? What if it was your child saying those words to others? Would you just be disgusted by them and keep them home? How would you protect their siblings? What would you do with your uncivlized child? Picture your kids - where would you send them away to to ensure they didn't bother anyone?

Omg I’d love them and get them all the help I could, and I ALSO wouldn’t bring them to a funeral of a young child knowing that they would probably involuntarily yell out horrific things about the deceased and add layers of grief to the mourners. For one extreme example. There is a middle ground between “they belong in every environment and people have to deal!” And “lock them in a padded room”

Yes, there is. So where do you think an awards show for a movie about his life would fall on your spectrum?

The movie about his life, believe it or not, was NOT the only film being honored there. And if I’m not mistaken , he was not acting in the film nor was he directing the film. Right? So he was the subject of a film. He is not the star of the BAFTAs. So in my hypothetical, yeah, I’d encourage my child to sit that one out in the lobby of the venue. Now if he was receiving a lifetime achievement award from the BAFTAs and was literally the guest of honor getting the most prestigious award then I’d feel differently. But he was not!

So you think being the subject of a film is...not a big deal? I guess you know a lot more important people than I do. Because in my world, having a film made about your and your disability would be a pretty big deal.

Let me repeat- he was not at the ceremony because he had been nominated for an award. It was not a ceremony honoring him. I did not say it was not a big deal to have a film made about you. I said this was not HIS AWARD CEREMONY. He was not being honored with an award. So no, he did not need to attend if his tic was going to unfortunately ruin the evening for the actual award nominees. This falls in the category, for me personally, of something I would keep my hypothetical Tourette’s child home from.

[Anonymous]

It is unfortunate that so much was made of this involuntary moment that it overshadowed all the artists who won awards. People say John took away from the two presenters but the extreme focus by the public on his vocalization has taken away from all the award winners and their moment to shine. Instead of being asked about their art, they are being asked about John's coprolalia which most of them didn't even hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-bafta-n-word-interview-1236671850/

John responds. I hesitate to post it as it may just direct more hate his way but I believe he has a right to have a voice and an opinion about his own experience.

Probably a waste of breath at this point. People who didn't understand his disability before don't want to hear about it now and don't believe it's real.

I have faith that there might be a few people reading the thread who do want to learn and who might be willing to change their view when they know more. Sure there are lots of people who aren't open but I think we continue to educate for the ones that are. It might not change anything for John but it might make a difference in how they respond or react if they see someone with a tic or have a vocalization in public. Anything that might increase kindness, compassion, or even awareness is still useful.

[Anonymous]

This guy has to know about sound dampening / voice muffling masks that are made specifically for people suffering from Tourette’s. Like, there’s no way he doesn’t know they don’t exist. Why on earth wouldn’t he wear one, knowing he was going to tic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-bafta-n-word-interview-1236671850/

John responds. I hesitate to post it as it may just direct more hate his way but I believe he has a right to have a voice and an opinion about his own experience.

I can see why you’d hesitate to post this. Davidson gave very detailed and moving descriptions of his own experiences, and I, like many, feel for him. However — neither Davidson nor his interviewer mentioned anything that even touches on the distress that others might feel when his behavior impacts them. Good to know that after quite a bit of time and “fallout” Davidson’s team has reached out “in order to apologize “ to three people directly impacted by his n-word comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-bafta-n-word-interview-1236671850/

John responds. I hesitate to post it as it may just direct more hate his way but I believe he has a right to have a voice and an opinion about his own experience.

I can see why you’d hesitate to post this. Davidson gave very detailed and moving descriptions of his own experiences, and I, like many, feel for him. However — neither Davidson nor his interviewer mentioned anything that even touches on the distress that others might feel when his behavior impacts them. Good to know that after quite a bit of time and “fallout” Davidson’s team has reached out “in order to apologize “ to three people directly impacted by his n-word comments.

Honestly I think most insults and offensive language don't bother people that much. The n word is in a class of its own with the extreme reaction to it and maybe this is the first time Davidson and his "team" whoever that is have had such an overwhelming negative reaction to his verbal tic. It sounds like there were some homophobic slurs at this event too and we don't see as much of an uproar. It wasn't televised but it sounds like Davidson himself said he used some word along those lines.