Tourettes, racism, and the wide open tear that our culture tries to hide

Scandal broke at the 2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAS) as actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo during the presentation for Best Visual Effects award to Avatar: Fire and Ash were heckled by Tourettes campaigner John Davidson in which Davidson was heard calling both actors the n-word, with a hard r.

Whether many of us would like to admit it or not, we live in a highly contradictory society. The story that a country like Britain often tells itself (particularly from the right wing but also in some liberal circles) is that racism isn’t significant in our so-called progressive liberal society. Every so often cracks in those sentiments expose what has for a long time been part of the underbelly of British culture.

Criticism of the BBC

Across social media there has been a mixture of shock, disgust and an outpouring of sympathy towards Jordan and Lindo. There were criticisms aimed at the BBC who aired the slur being yelled out in their delayed broadcast, but edited out Akinola Davies Jr saying ‘free Palestine’:

With a two-hour delay, the BBC could’ve removed the N-word slur from its BAFTA coverage, and chose not to.

Meanwhile, it cut Akinola Davies Jr saying “Free Palestine”.

A clear editorial decision driven by fear of pro-Israel lobby groups. Shame on them.

pic.twitter.com/YmaVwOTUQx

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 23, 2026

And, one cultural critic did what many refused and failed to do, summed up both the reality of Tourettes and the painful experience suffered by Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo, and Black people in audiences both in the studio and at home:

Too many people are looking at the MBJ Delroy Lindo instance in pure black and white thinking and acting like they know anything about Tourettes disability. They both showed grace at such an unfortunate moment which should be a reminder that black creatives no matter how…

— Zak (@zakfilm) February 22, 2026

The full tweet above reads:

Too many people are looking at the MBJ Delroy Lindo instance in pure black and white thinking and acting like they know anything about Tourettes disability. They both showed grace at such an unfortunate moment which should be a reminder that black creatives no matter how successful they get can still face these type of slurs or remarks anywhere, but there needs to be a space to have these conversations with nuance and seek to learn disabilities that most of us do not know about let alone understand. If anything the organisers are to blame for not giving a thorough statement and providing more context to the artists that go on stage in case things like this happen to them.

The BBC’s pro genocide and pro racist agenda is too clear today, they had time to clip out Free Palestine but not literal slurs, and there’s been no apologies, why should Black people turn the other cheek?

The BBC’s pro genocide and pro racist agenda is too clear today, they had time to clip out Free Palestine but not literal slurs, and there’s been no apologies, why should Black people turn the other cheek?

— princess thighana of wales (@lidlkim_) February 22, 2026

Contextual understanding

However, beyond these criticisms was a much deeper and broader debate about where the line between neurological disorder and racism begins and ends. There were some people online who argued that John Davidson’s outbursts should be understood properly in the context of a disability that he cannot control and that it wasn’t a product of racism as argued here:

I understand this might be shocking but please try to understand he didn’t mean it and can’t control I have it and I promise you it doesn’t make you shout what you think like some people believe

— Flynn 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏳️‍🌈 (@TorchwoodTales) February 22, 2026

This was reinforced by the BAFTAS host Alan Cumming who took an opportunity at the show to tell the audience about Davidson’s tourettes and to thank the audience for “their understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone.” These sentiments largely failed to land with many Black audiences who have argued that Black people should not have to deal with racist abuse under any circumstances. Moreover many found the defense of Davidson as yet another chapter in the act of diminishing the seriousness of anti-Black racism:

look, i’m finna b real w/ u. nobody cares. at the end of the day, he said the worst word in the english lexicon. the least he could’ve done was provide a meaningful apology… and he didn’t. black ppl are expected to get over everything.

— ;!juggie$t . (@chvnchilla) February 22, 2026

What tourettes can tell us about racism in British society

While arguments about the need to understand Tourette’s syndrome have validity, this incident is very revealing about the presence of racism in our culture. Tourette’s syndrome is defined as a motor disorder characterised by involuntary tics. It is very likely that John Davidson’s Tourette’s is classified as coprolalia which is expressed in the form of tics that are involuntarily obscene, derogatory and offensive. While I accept that Tourette’s syndrome itself is not intrinsically racist in any neurological way, what was expressed came from something environmental. At the end of the day John Davidson saw two Black men and his Tourette’s syndrome drew upon the association of the term ‘n****r’ and Black people.

It is not known if Davidson is racist or not and it probably doesn’t matter, because his Tourettes drew on a social artifact to express itself as a racist outburst. What John Davidson’s Tourette’s syndrome tells us is that racism exists very much in our society and culture and if it didn’t then Davidson would have likely said something else that would not be rooted in an anti-Black racism.

 Featured image via the Canary