What should have been a celebratory night for the 2026 BAFTAs, held on February 22, turned complicated and uncomfortable very quickly. As Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the Best Visual Effects award, a loud racial slur was hurled at them from the audience. The person responsible for the slur, John Davidson, is a prominent Tourette’s syndrome advocate and the inspiration for the BAFTA-winning film, I Swear.
Wunmi Mosaku addresses BAFTA incident
For a few seconds, the entire room seemed to hold its breath. However, in the days that followed, Wunmi Mosaku, the Best Supporting Actress winner for Sinners that night, opened up about how the incident changed the tone of what should have been a milestone night for the cast. “I think that we all have our own personal take on what happened at the BAFTAs. I want to hear your take on what happened with the BAFTAs. I was there, and it was painful to have that celebration kind of really tainted for me.”
Despite her own feelings, Mosaku made it very clear that she doesn’t hold a grudge against John Davidson. “You know I have no hard feelings toward John Davidson at all. Like he has a condition. I feel like BAFTA to learn.”
However, she did go on to say that the incident had a way of “tainting” the celebration for the cast. As had been mentioned by her co-star Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku referred to the incident as “exploitative and performative to have someone there without the full protection of everyone, including him and anyone in that audience,” and questioned how inclusion had been handled and how much thought had gone into making sure that everyone in the room felt included.
Much of the controversy has centered on this aspect of the event. Some argue that Davidson was placed in an environment that would trigger his tics, while the actors onstage were forced to deal with the aftermath of a very damaging word in real-time. Lindo would later tell Vanity Fair that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” to complete the segment, although Lindo did wish someone from BAFTA had checked on them after the event.
The controversy would not end there, however, as the BBC broadcast, which was taped and aired later, did not delete the word from the segment, even though other politically charged words would later be deleted from the ceremony.
Davidson, who has had Tourette’s his entire life and who had previously been honored with an MBE for his advocacy work, allegedly chose to leave the auditorium and watch the remainder of the ceremony from a private room. He would later issue a statement expressing his deep regret for his actions, saying that his coprolalia was not something he had control over and did not reflect his true feelings.
Sinners would go on to win three awards that night, including Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler. A week later, Regina King would honor Jordan and Lindo as “two kings” during the NAACP Image Awards ceremony.
