Unfortunately, for those who won at the 2026 BAFTA Awards, their accomplishments will mostly be overshadowed by one massive blunder. That is John Davidson's outburst during the broadcast wherein he verbally attacked several attendees. Some of them include BAFTA chair Sara Putt were Davidson told her to "shut the f*ck up." Or there was a "f*ck you" for the directors of Boong.
However, the most talked-about moment has easily been him yelling the N-word at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo. While presenting a BAFTA award onstage, Davidson hurled the racist remark at the two gentlemen, who were visibly taken aback.
Making matters worse is that even though the broadcast was two hours behind, it wasn't censored at all.
While some will argue it's too late, BBC is trying to make up for things by taking the moment out of the on-demand broadcast. Per Complex, a spokesperson came forward and revealed they would be doing so while issuing an apology.
"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. We apologize that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer."
Who Is John Davidson?
Alan Cumming, a BAFTA host, also broke his silence on the matter. He says, "Tourette's syndrome is a disability, and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight."
Additionally, John Davidson expressed his discomfort with his incident. He says, "I can only add that I am and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning."
For those wondering who Davidson is, he's a Tourette's syndrome advocate who's been dealing with the uncurable disorder his entire life. He also has a rare symptom of it called coprolalia, which causes those to uncontrollably shout such offensive words and phrases.
He was in attendance at the ceremony because his story was used as inspiration behind the BAFTA-winning 2025 film I Swear.
