Jason Lewis

Let’s educate people about Tourette’s , watch the film I swear and you will realise John Davidson is an inspiration to many and is not a racist. Upsetting word yes but he meant no malice or ill feeling towards the 2 actors who handled it very well. First time I met John his first sentence to me was a hurtful tic. He can’t help it. Please watch the film to find out more.

Tourettes Action release statement defending John Davidson after racial BAFTAs incident “[Tics are not] a reflection of a person’s beliefs, intentions, or character. People with Tourette’s can say words or phrases they do not mean, do not endorse, and feel great distress about”

Reports say he had been ticcing all through the night. At multiple people, not just Jordan and Lindo. At his team and at others. Misogynistic slurs, racist slurs, other slurs. The nature of the disorder is that your brain forces you to blurt out things it has registered as taboos in given social contexts. Involuntarily. If an apology is to be insisted upon, then he shouldn’t just apologise to Jordan and Lindo; he should apologise to every single person he ticced at that night, whether theirs was televised or not. To ask him to specifically apologise to Jordan and Lindo is to say that he is to apologise for theirs being publicised or amplified, not for the utterance itself. But is it his fault that his tics were televised? Or is it the fault of the media platform that chose to air it, especially without giving appropriate medical context? If he ticced at five people that night, he would need to apologise to five people. If he ticced at twenty, apologise to twenty. Fifty? Eighty? Hundred? How many people can he realistically apologise to for something completely out of his control? How long is he going to spend his life apologising? At what point does it move from apologising for harm to apologising for having a disability?

I respect Jemele immensely and understand the position she and others are taking. But I can't agree with them. This is a disability, a neurological condition. The n-word is the most powerful and painful in the English language. Impact will always matter. But intent must as well.

John Davidson says he is “deeply mortified” that anyone thought his involuntary tics were “intentional or to carry any meaning.” Full statement: “I wanted to thank BAFTA and everyone involved in the awards last night for their support and understanding and inviting me to attend the broadcast. I appreciated the announcement to the auditorium in advance of the recording, warning everyone that my tics are involuntary and are not a reflection of my personal beliefs. I was heartened by the round of applause that followed this announcement and felt welcomed and understood in an environment that would normally be impossible for me. In addition to the announcement by Alan Cumming, the BBC and BAFTA,  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. I was in attendance to celebrate the film of my life, I SWEAR, which more than any film or TV documentary, explains the origins, condition, traits and manifestations of Tourette Syndrome. I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette’s community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding from others and I will continue to do so. I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”