The 79th British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs, were broadcast on the BBC on Sunday, February 22. As Fox News reported, the BBC was forced to issue an apology “after a racial slur was shouted by an audience member with Tourette syndrome” during the BAFTA broadcast. this audience member was none other than the renowned Scottish Tourette’s activist, John Davidson.
“John Davidson, who has severe Tourette syndrome and was the inspiration for the BAFTA-nominated biographical film ‘I Swear,’ was heard shouting the n-word while Black actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage. During other portions of the program, Davidson was heard shouting profanities, including ‘f— you’ and ‘shut the f— up.’”
Beginning with “John’s Not Angry,” a documentary about John Davidson’s behavior due to Tourette’s syndrome released in 1989, to “I Swear,” which won multiple awards at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts this week, Davidson has been an incredible ambassador for the disease, culminating in his being awarded an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2019.
It is now ironic that the very unprovoked and unbridled manifestations of the disease — which led made him to say again that he feels ashamed — are the very manifestations that require forbearance and understanding on the part of others.
MAN WITH TOURETTE SYNDROME ‘DEEPLY MORTIFIED’ AFTER SHOUTING RACIAL SLUR AT AWARDS SHOW
Actors at the BAFTA awards who said that Davidson was being racist for hurling racial epithets are not correct. His outbursts are organic, were a manifestation of the disease, not evidence of some underlying belief that many people try to mask. The BBC has admitted fault for not editing them out, but performers and presenters at BAFTA should also have been forewarned. I don’t believe that Davidson should have been barred from being present at the very awards that celebrated his condition and the need to accept it.
John Davidson is 54-years-old and first knew there was something seriously wrong at age 9, when he began skipping down the streets and licking the lampposts of London.
This was followed by episodes of spitting food at family members, which led to his father leaving the family altogether. John Davidson — the man whose true story beat the A-list at the BAFTAs — has refused to be defined by his condition. This is inspiring.
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But Davidson has never given in to the debilitating life of severe Tourette’s. In fact, his advocacy for increased awareness is heroic and has led to a growing effort to destigmatize an embarrassing and demoralizing disease, which leads almost 50 percent of its adult sufferers to consider suicide — Davidson among them.
Davidson has lived a life of stress and shame and has had a heart attack, as well as heart surgery. He has tried various treatments, including antipsychotic medications (which he didn’t tolerate) and a wristband called Neupulse, which releases electrical pulses in an attempt to decrease the urge to tic (it worked for him to some extent). Deep brain stimulation is a promising treatment for severe Tourette’s that is still being studied.
Keep in mind that Tourette’s is a spectrum disorder, meaning it has a range of associated symptoms. “Tics” can be mild, repetitive body movements, twitches or sounds, all the way up to the coprolalia that Davidson exhibited, which involves “the involuntary outburst of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks.” It affects only 10 to 30 percent of Tourette’s sufferers. Most importantly, the lack of control that it causes does not reveal underlying racism, disrespect or rage. It is a neurological condition involving increased disruption of dopamine release and sensitivity, as well as problems with the limbic system of the brain.
With over 300,000 people suffering from some form of Tourette’s in the U.K. and more than 1 million in the U.S. — and up to 1 percent of the world’s population living with some form of the disorder — it is important that we pursue not only more advanced treatments but also greater sensitivity and empathy.
