Man with Tourette's who shouted racial slur at BAFTAs shares what a tic feels like
John Davidson, a man with Tourette's whose life and experience was adapted into the film I Swear for which Robert Aramayo won a Best Actor BAFTA for playing him, explained what it feels like to tic.
At the awards ceremony John shouted a racial slur while Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage, he had also shouted ‘shut the f**k up’ and ‘f**k you’ at other points during the BAFTAs.
John did not stay to the end of the BAFTAs and host Alan Cumming thanked the audience for their 'understanding' and apologised for the language, which had not been edited out of the initial broadcast.
Last year while taking about I Swear, John told the Telegraph about his experience with Tourette's Syndrome and what a tic feels like to him.
Advert
The film opens with him getting his MBE in 2019 where he shouted that he had a bomb during security checks and yelled 'f**k the Queen' when he was in a room with her.
In his conversation with the Telegraph, John described a tic feeling like a shaken bottle of fizzy water, ever ready to gush forcefully out of him.
One of the symptoms some people with Tourette's have is called 'coprolalia', which is one of the most well-known symptoms even though it only affects some people with the syndrome and is 'the involuntary outburst of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks', as the Tourette Association of America puts it.
They say it is one of the most difficult symptoms someone with Tourette's can live with.
Others who have Tourette's have described how trying to 'suppress' a tic and how they 'feel a knot in my stomach getting tighter and tighter like a noose around my neck.
Describing his experiences with Tourette's, John explained how he started saying 'c**t' out of nowhere while on holiday with his family until he was 'was running out of breath', and his mum telling him a couple of weeks later to apologise.
He explained: "She’d said: ‘Think about what you’ve done, and when you feel you can apologise, come and speak to me.’ And lying in my bed, I don’t know why, at the top of my voice, I just shouted: ‘Suck my c**k!’ In response, mum gave me a good thump and said: ‘I’m not having this.'"
I Swear covers several of the most difficult times in his life including a suicide attempt at the age of 14 which John told the Telegraph he'd done 'in the depths of despair'.
The film also shows John being attacked with a crowbar after a tic led to him shouting 'slut'.
Aramayo, who played John in the film, said there was a 'joint responsibility' around Tourette's which was 'complicated and complex and it requires us to have grace'.
The actor said: "First of all, there are tics. He is ticcing. We have to understand. The way we perceive Tourette's is a joint responsibility.
"It's not shouting obscenities. It's not being abusive. It's Tourette's. They are tics. If it can lead to a deeper understanding of Tourette's, and movies are part of that conversation, then it's an incredible thing."
The BBC have since edited the BAFTAs broadcast on iPlayer, in a statement they 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."
Topics: BAFTAs
Joe Harker