However, the aftermath of the 79th BAFTA Film Awards is no longer confined to the Royal Festival Hall alone. The aftermath of the ceremony has seen Jamie Foxx and Wendell Pierce become two of the most vocal critics of the handling of the entire ordeal following Tourette’s advocate John Davidson MBE involuntarily uttering the ‘N—-‘ while presenting with Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo.
BAFTA controversy deepens as Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx has been quite blunt about his feelings regarding the incident, responding with the following comment under an Instagram video of the incident: “Nah, he meant that s—. Unacceptable.” This is a sentiment that has been shared by others with regard to the incident.
However, Wendell Pierce has also been quite vocal about his feelings regarding the handling of the incident on X, stating that the focus should have been on the presenters themselves rather than Tourette’s syndrome, adding that full apologies to Jordan and Lindo should have been the priority over any explanation of Tourette’s syndrome, and stating that “It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full throatted apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan. The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning for the r—– slur.”
The way that the host, Alan Cumming, worded his comments from the stage, including the part that said he was sorry “if anyone was offended,” also came under fire. The designer for the play Sinners, named Hannah Beachler, also reported that she personally was subjected to several slurs that night, which further adds to the concerns regarding the environment that the event took place in.
Apologies were given quickly by the BBC, as the slur was not removed from the delayed broadcast. They later removed the slur from the iPlayer. The BAFTA Awards gave an unreserved apology to Jordan and Lindo, praising their professionalism for continuing the ceremony. Davidson also gave a statement saying that he was “deeply mortified” and left the ceremony as soon as he understood the offense that his tics had given the audience.
According to medical data, 10% to 30% of the population that has Tourette’s also has coprolalia, which is the involuntary utterance of socially inappropriate words. However, the issue is no longer simply the numbers. It is also the intersection of disability awareness, racial trauma, and live event accountability.
