In February, the BAFTAs were completely overshadowed by a confluence of terrible decision-making around race, inclusion and Tourette’s. The film I Swear, the true story of John Davidson, who has Tourette’s, was up for several BAFTAs. So was Sinners, and the stars of Sinners were all in attendance. While Davidson was seated forty rows back from the stage, he later claimed that an audience microphone was placed close to his seat. Mic or not, his voice carried when his involuntary tics began during the show. We pieced everything together in the weeks after the BAFTAs – Davidson was allowed to sit in the auditorium, loudly ticcing the n-word while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage as presenters, then again when Wunmi Mosaku won her BAFTA. Sinners’ costume designer, a Black woman, also said that Davidson ticced the n-word at her after the show. BAFTA and the BBC (which aired one of Davidson’s racial slurs) completely bungled every part of this catastrophe. Well, the BAFTA Scotland people said “not on our watch.” The Scottish team is doing everything differently:

Just over than seven months after the British Academy faced one of its biggest controversies in years after the N-word was shouted out during the BAFTA Film awards ceremony, BAFTA has had to revisit the moment as it contends with the upcoming BAFTA Scotland awards.

The incident — which came to significantly overshadow the 2026 awards ceremony on Feb. 22 — saw John Davidson, the Tourette syndrome activist and inspiration for the film “I Swear,” involuntarily shout the racial slur while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage to present the first award of the evening.

“I Swear” has now landed seven BAFTA Scotland nominations, considered the most in the awards’ history. Following the announcement on Thursday, a letter was sent to members from chair Sara Putt and CEO Jane Millichip confirming that major considerations had been undertaken to allow Davidson to attend the upcoming ceremony on Nov. 15 in Glasgow.

BAFTA said that there had been consultations with organizations such as Tourettes Action and Tourette Scotland and with Davidson. “Following those conversations and our wider risk assessment, we have made adjustments to enable John to attend in the way he has suggested to us, which is to watch the ceremony via video link from a separate relaxed space within the venue together with his family and friends,” it said.

An independent review ordered by BAFTA in the wake of the incident concluded that that there were a “number of structural weaknesses in BAFTA’s planning, escalation procedures and crisis coordination arrangements,” but found no evidence of “malicious intent” or “institutional racism.”

The letter to members sent Thursday highlighted this review and said the British Academy had since “worked extensively and consulted widely” to learn from what happened and the “racial harm experienced by our community” and to make its awards as “inclusive and as safe as possible.”

[From Variety]

You can read the letter at Variety. Significantly, BAFTA Scotland acknowledges something which the BBC and BAFTA Org refused to acknowledge for weeks and months: that even involuntary tics cause harm, and that lack of intent does not negate impact. Part of BAFTA Scotland’s letter includes this passage: “We know that involuntary vocal tics involving words relating to race, religion, sexuality or other protected characteristics can cause distress and harm to others, and it is BAFTA’s responsibility to plan for and mitigate any such impact on our guests. We take this very seriously. These changes reflect a broader principle we are embedding in our Awards planning: listening to people about their needs, preparing carefully, and creating an environment in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect.” I’m glad that Davidson will be able to watch the show from the comfort of private accommodations, which is what he apparently suggested.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.