BBC, BAFTA host apologize after guest with Tourette’s shouts racial slur with ‘Sinners’ stars onstage

LONDON -- Britain’s film academy and the BBC apologized to viewers after an audience member with Tourette syndrome shouted a racial slur during the British Academy Film Awards.

The highly offensive word could be heard as “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for best visual effects during Sunday’s ceremony. Host Alan Cumming had earlier told the audience that a guest at the ceremony was John Davidson, a Scottish campaigner for people with Tourette syndrome, who inspired the BAFTA-nominated film “I Swear.”

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Tourette syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder, is characterized by sudden, involuntary movements or sounds called tics that tend to wax and wane but can worsen with excitement or anxiety, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. They may appear to be purposeful but are not, and the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s Tourette information page says people trying to suppress them often report a buildup of tension before a tic erupts.

The Tourette Association of America says about 10-15 per cent of people with the syndrome experience a kind of vocal tic called coprolalia -- involuntary swearing, slurs or other socially unacceptable words or phrases.

Several shouts were audible during the first part of the ceremony, although what was said wasn’t intelligible to an Associated Press reporter in the press room.

After the slur was shouted during Jordan and Lindo’s presentation, Cumming apologized to the audience at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the “strong and offensive language.”

“Tourette syndrome is a disability and the tics you have heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language,” Cumming said. “We apologize if you were offended.”

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts referred to Cumming’s statement when asked for comment on Monday.

The epithet could be heard when the BBC broadcast the ceremony about two hours after the live event. The broadcaster apologized for not editing it out before the broadcast, though the offensive word could still be heard on its iPlayer streaming service on Monday morning. The program was later removed, and the BBC said the slur would be edited out.

“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards,” the BBC said in a statement. “This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional.

“I Swear” won two BAFTAs, including best actor for Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson. Representatives for the film and for Jordan and Lindo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ed Palmer, vice chair of the charity Tourettes Action, said the BBC should have considered bleeping out the slur.

“This is really one of the most acute examples of where something that is a disability can cause quite understandably huge amounts of offense to someone,” he told Times Radio. “So, if it’s being prerecorded now, then bleeping it out, for example, might be a reasonable compromise.”

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By Jill Lawless

AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington and National Writer Jocelyn Noveck in Paris contributed reporting.