Sinners star Jayme Lawson has said that she thinks John Davidson was ‘exploited’ by BAFTA and has claimed that the BBC were ‘careless’ amid the ongoing Tourette’s racism row surrounding the recent ceremony.
Tourette’s sufferer John, 54, involuntarily shouted the N-word at the event held at the Royal Festival Hall last month while Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage to present an award.
Afterwards John said he was ‘deeply mortified’ by his outburst, which he said had been involuntarily triggered by the neurological condition he has suffered from since the age of 12.
The BBC was forced to apologise for failing to edit out the racial slur in the TV coverage shown two hours later.
Now Michael and Delroy’s co-star Jayme has spoken out on what happened telling The Hollywood Reporter at the 57th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday that John’s ‘disability got exploited that night’.
She said on the red carpet: ‘I’ll first say a big shout out to Mike and Delroy, like let’s continue to honor them for how they handled that in real time, the grace and the dignity that they exercised, and the whole home team, everybody that was out there, like really carried themselves well.
Sinners star Jayme Lawson has said that she thinks John Davidson was ‘exploited’ by BAFTA and has claimed that the BBC were ‘careless’ amid the ongoing Tourette’s racism row
‘I think the events this weekend exposed a couple things – Institutionally, we still don’t understand what inclusion means.
‘Just because you invite someone into a space, but you don’t provide the necessary resources to keep them and everyone else in that room safe by them being there, that’s not inclusivity. That’s exploitation.
‘That man’s disability got exploited that night, and it led to multiple offenses. That’s the BAFTA’s fault. And then the BBC, to air what they aired is careless.
‘And not like some haphazard accident, no, like a real lack of care was exercised for those two Black men. And we know the BBC knows how to take care of what they care about, right, because they censored a bunch of other… they went so far as to make sure certain things weren’t topics of conversation.
‘They censored Akinola’s speech, the director of My Father’s Shadow, which is an amazing film, by the way. So you censored one Black man, you failed to protect two others. You do not care for our dignity, our humanity.’
‘You want to celebrate our art, but you won’t protect, and that’s why we celebrate Sinners. That’s why we celebrate Ryan (Coogler) [the director of Sinners]. That’s why we show up to the NAACP, because those are spaces where we felt safe, where we feel safe.’
It comes just after Delroy himself addressed the controversy surrounding his BAFTA appearance after the slur was shouted while he was up on stage.
Delroy has now thanked fans for the ‘love and support’ he has received since the night, also while at the NAACP Image Awards.
Tourette’s sufferer John, 54, involuntarily shouted the N-word at the event last month while Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage to present an award
Delroy, who picked up the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for Sinners, said: ‘We appreciate – I appreciate – all of the support and love we have been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend, it means a lot to us.
‘It is an honour to be here amongst our people this evening, amongst so many people who have shown us such incredible support.
‘And it’s a classic case of something that could’ve been very negative becoming very positive. Thank you so much for the support.’
The British-born star went on to praise the ceremony as ‘a room where being fully seen is not rare, but it is expected’.
Delroy and Michael were referenced by actress Regina Hall when she presented the first award of the night.
She said: ‘I just want to take a moment to the two kings who are in this audience and just send you so much love for your class.’
The event was hosted by Deon Cole, who also took aim at the incident, and said: ‘If there are any white men out here in the audience with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them they can read the room tonight.’
John made headlines around the world when he shouted the N-word while black actors Michael and Delroy were on stage to present an award.
John is Britain’s most high-profile sufferer of Tourette syndrome, which causes him to curse loudly, shout insults, and make sudden involuntary physical and vocal tics.
In 2019 he was awarded an MBE by the late Queen for his campaign work in trying to raise better awareness and understanding of the condition – and he famously shouted out ‘F*** the Queen’ at the ceremony, which gives the film its opening scene.
Michael and Delroy did not react on stage but BAFTAs host Alan Cumming later told the audience: ‘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. We apologise if you are offended tonight.’
John’s actions were not met with universal sympathy, however, and black US actor Jamie Foxx – star of Django Unchained – wrote on social media: ‘Out of all the words you could’ve said Tourette’s makes you say that. Nah he meant that s***. Unacceptable.’
Meanwhile, film-maker Jonte Richardson revealed he is stepping down as a Bafta judge over the academy’s handling of the incident.
In a statement on LinkedIn, Jonte said: ‘After considerable soul-searching, I feel compelled to withdraw from the Bafta emerging talent judging panel.’
A spokesperson for the BBC issued an apology and said: ‘Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional.
‘We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.’
