A day off from controversy was not in god's plan for the BAFTAs

I bet the Brits would love a day off from controversy, but that is not in god’s plan, apparently. The BAFTAs delivered controversy last night in two different ways. First, let’s talk about the lead acting categories, the site of a major upset (if you don’t pay attention to British cinema).

Jessie Buckley won Best Leading Actress for her performance in Hamnet, strengthening her position going into the SAG Awards next weekend. She is nominated there once again against Rose Byrne, who has been her closest competition this awards season, but Rose hasn’t won a major award against Jessie yet. (At the Golden Globes, they split the drama and comedy categories between them.) Maybe that will change with the SAGs, and if it does, we have a race going into the Oscars, but if Jessie wins next weekend, too, it’s over. The Oscar will be hers.

On the dudes’ side of the aisle, Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Michael B. Jordan were all upset by English actor Robert Aramayo, the star of the biopic I Swear (it has not opened yet in the US, so it is not Oscar eligible alongside). Aramayo is best known for TV work on this side of the pond, starring as Young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. I Swear is his breakout film role, evinced by winning two BAFTAs: Best Leading Actor and the EE Rising Star Award, which is voted on by the public. So he got the approval of his peers and the audience last night.

For the Oscars, this means that the door is still open for The Secret Agent star Wagner Moura. He was not nominated at the BAFTAs, but Aramayo isn’t an option for the Oscars, so the British Academy voters will have to pick someone else at the Oscars, and, well, they’ve already shown they’re not going for Timmy, Leo, or MBJ. However, Wagner Moura is also not nominated at the SAGs, so we still don’t have a strong frontrunner in the lead actor category. My gut is leaning more toward Moura with each passing week, but the fact that we cannot get these guys into a head-to-head competition with voters who actually matter is so frustrating. I want to see what Moura’s actual peers will do! But I have to wait until Oscar night! I hate it!

There was another controversy more serious than a category upset, though. The subject of Aramayo’s film, I Swear, is Tourette Syndrome awareness activist John Davidson. One of Davidson’s tics is echolalia, in which he vocalizes automatically, and in Davidson’s case, as depicted in the film, this often results in Davidson shouting inappropriate and/or offensive words. During the BAFTAs, Davidson swore several times from the audience, and then, when Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were presenting the award for best visual effects, he shouted the n-word.

I am not including a video as it is an upsetting and degrading moment for everyone involved. Davidson left the ceremony of his own volition, and host Alan Cumming made several remarks throughout the night about his audible exclamations, including “We apologize if you are offended tonight” to the audience after Davidson left. There was also an announcement to the audience BEFORE the show that Davidson has Tourette’s and people “might hear some involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony”.

This is just very unfortunate for everyone. Davidson cannot control his tics, he left less than 30 minutes into the presentation, but it did not stop Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan from being humiliated and having to press on with a dumb trophy handoff. The whole thrust of Davidson’s activism is that with awareness comes grace and understanding, and there was clearly an attempt to create that atmosphere for his attendance, but it did not ultimately work because of the specific word said.

Asking for more grace for the person who shouted a racist slur instead of for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who had to push through being embarrassed in front of their peers.

But that’s often the expectation — that Black people are just supposed to be ok with being… https://t.co/MqHbC8XwsA
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 23, 2026

Expecting Davidson to never go anywhere because he might say something upsetting isn’t fair, but…it’s also not fair that Lindo and MBJ, as well as every other Black person in attendance or watching the uncensored feed, had to hear that word, too. And as of this writing late Sunday night, there has been no apology issued by anyone directly to Lindo and MBJ, who were on stage when it happened. There is just “we’re sorry if you’re offended”, which I’m sorry, doesn’t cut it.

There has been a lot of blame and ableism and excuses being thrown around, but very little pointed in the direction of the BBC and BAFTA. They made accommodations for Davidson, they tried to create an environment for his participation, but when the worst-case scenario unfolded, they have, so far, done nothing or not enough for the consideration and accommodation of the Black people in attendance at their trophy party. They also, even with a two-hour tape delay, left in the racial slur but edited out other remarks. It’s starting to look like a case of “who do you think deserves consideration and grace”, because so far, this is not being applied equally.

I feel for John Davidson, I feel for Lindo and MBJ, and also Hannah Beachler, who won for production design for Sinners and has shared that she heard the slur three times, including one occasion that was directed specifically at her.

Tourette’s is context, not an excuse. These men, and their fellow audience members, are owed a much deeper apology. They are owed much more consideration. And they have been extremely gracious in the face of cold silence. John Davidson cannot control his vocalizations, but the BBC, and BAFTA can control their response. And the response so far is lacking.