After an attendee with involuntary vocal tics yelled out the n-word during the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage, Jamie Foxx joined many others in speaking out about the incident.
During Sunday night’s broadcast, John Davidson, an advocate who lives with Tourette syndrome, was in attendance representing the film “I Swear,” which chronicles his lifelong journey living with and advocating for the condition. According to reports, Davidson yelled out the slur multiple times during the ceremony.
As clips from the moment continue to circulate, the online discourse has been deeply divided. Some are calling for accountability and, at a minimum, a formal apology to Jordan and Lindo. Others have pointed to the realities of living with Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder that involves sudden, repetitive, and involuntary movements or vocal sounds known as tics.
In a since-deleted comment under a post shared by The Neighborhood Talk, Foxx weighed in, writing, “Nah he meant that s—, unacceptable.”
Commenters were quick to respond, both agreeing and pushing back. Those aligned with Foxx echoed a growing sentiment online that even if an action is involuntary, it does not make the impact any less harmful.
During the ceremony, BAFTAs host Alan Cumming addressed the situation on stage.
“Tourette syndrome is a disability, and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language,” he said. “We apologise if you are offended tonight.”
A BBC spokesperson also issued an apology for Davidson’s remarks.
“Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler shared in a post on X that she, too, had been the target of a racial slur during the evening.
“I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through,” she wrote. “But what made the situation worse was the throwaway apology of ‘if you were offended’ at the end of the show.”
On Threads, Brittany Packnett Cunningham reflected on a past experience in which she was threatened by someone with a traumatic brain injury, noting that the involuntary nature of his actions did not lessen their impact.
“Stop making Blackness absorb every sin against us like we don’t bleed,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, on X, Jemele Hill said the expectation that Black people simply move on is all too familiar.
“Asking for more grace for the person who shouted a racist slur instead of for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who had to push through being embarrassed in front of their peers,” she wrote. “But that’s often the expectation — that Black people are just supposed to be ok with being disrespected and dehumanized so that other people don’t feel bad.”
British actor and director David Harewood highlighted how the controversy arrives amid several recent high-profile incidents of anti-Black racism, calling for a broader discussion.
“Coming on the heels of the President of America’s racist meme, and the ‘unfortunate choice of words’ from the owner of one of the biggest football clubs in the world,” he wrote on Threads. “And the racist abuse leveled at an Irish rugby player making his debut for his country, together with the racist abuse of a star football player, abuse he was accused of inciting himself, I feel what happened last night at the @bafta awards certainly adds to the sense that we need to talk about this moment we are living through.”
