John Davidson, the man with Tourette’s syndrome whose explicit outbursts were heard during the BAFTA awards on Sunday, issued an apology Monday.
“I am, and always have been, deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning,” the 54-year-old Davidson said in his statement. “I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”
Davidson was attending the ceremony at the invitation of BAFTA organizers. He was the inspiration for the film “I Swear,” which won three awards during the ceremony.
Most notably, he blurted out the N-word while Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were presenting the award for Best Visual Effects. The slur was also heard on the BBC broadcast.
Lindo said he had hoped to speak with someone from the BAFTA awards after the incident, telling Vanity Fair he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while presenting the award, but he still wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.”
First diagnosed with Tourette’s at age 25, Davidson is a prominent activist for those with the disorder in the U.K. His story first went public back in 1989, in a documentary titled “John’s Not Mad.”
“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,” he said Monday.
Davidson also had other outbursts during the ceremony. He yelled, “Shut the f–k up” while BAFTA chair Sara Putt was speaking and “f–k you” at the winners of Best Children’s and Family Film.
“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,” host Alan Cumming said. “We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
“Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler said the outbursts captured on the broadcast weren’t the only ones heard throughout the night.
“The situation is almost impossible, but it happened three times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” Beachler wrote on social media. “Of course we were offended…but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I am not [steel], this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can’t take away from who I am as an artist.”