The night of February 22nd should have been one filled with celebration and joy for those who had been awarded with BAFTAs. That night, the annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, BAFTA for short, were televised for all the world to enjoy, and enjoy they would. As Alan Cumming, this year’s host, charmed the audience and the awards were presented, it almost seemed like the night couldn’t get any better, which would be correct. As Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan, actors from Ryan Coogler’s award-winning Sinners, got on stage to present the BAFTA for Best Visual Effects, a racial slur was yelled from the crowd. A short pause followed. Lindo’s eyes widened, and Jordan froze, then, after a beat, they continued on to present as if nothing had happened.

Safe to say many were appalled by the abhorrent language aired on their television, and rightfully so. What many didn’t know at the time was that the slur was yelled by a Tourette’s syndrome activist, John Davidson. Even as that explanation came through, many were still convinced the man did it on purpose, or that he could have controlled it. Lots of other people online claimed that others were being way too sensitive about the incident, and that he couldn’t control it at all. Of course, only a few looked at it with any sort of nuance or critical thinking. It’s completely natural to act on emotion, especially in times when certain distasteful words and phrases come out of someone’s mouth who has no business saying them at all. But what is not okay is to blame a man who physically cannot control his actions, OR anyone who was hurt by awful language. The one to blame is the BBC for not censoring the slur and causing this discourse to erupt in the first place.

So what is Tourette’s Syndrome? The average internet user, apparently, is not equipped to use google to simply get a quick scientific definition of the condition, and instead opt to make up their own definition in their head based off of random information they gather from Insta stories, TikToks, or Twitter posts. Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) is a neurological condition that, according to the National Institution of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, “may cause sudden unwanted and uncontrolled rapid and repeated movements or vocal sounds called tics.” Tics are caused by one’s neurons misfiring, and no one can control a misfired neuron. Back to the BAFTAs, some were wondering why this word would even be in this man’s vocabulary, but fail to recognize vocal tics are not comprised of one’s “vocabulary” (in this case meaning words they use on a regular basis), and are comprised of literally any word or sound the person with TS has ever heard. There was no malice behind this man, who was simply there to support a movie that represented his struggle with his condition, I Swear. This movie follows Davidson suffering constant social and emotional consequences that come with having TS. While there was no ill-intention, however, an awful, disparaging word was still yelled in the presence of people it has incredible effects on.

This brings me to my next point, an apology. Delroy Lindo, Michael B. Jordan, and every other person affected by the slur said that night, deserves an apology. The two actors, who, last year, poured their heart into performances highlighting black music and community, heartbreak and injustice, were not at all apologized to. After the ceremony, Delroy Lindo told Vanity Affair that he wished “someone from Bafta spoke to us afterward.” Reportedly, Michael B. Jordan’s parents were left in tears after witnessing their son be subjected to that. Now typically, if someone bumps into another person and spills juice all over them, one would apologize and hopefully try to right the wrong. Though the juice spillage was not on purpose, the other person was negatively affected, and deserves an apology and/or compensation. This same principle applies to this situation. Now, we can’t expect someone with TS to apologize for every nasty thing they say, slur or not, as they can’t control it, but the bare minimum would have been someone on BAFTA staff speaking with Lindo and Jordan to apologize on the behalf of Davidson and/or BAFTA itself.

The worst part is, it could have been edited out. BAFTAs are not live, and throughout the show, edits were made. Davidson, in an interview with Variety, said he yelled “pedophile” at Alan Cumming, which was edited out in the final production. Akinola Davies Jr. won a BAFTA for “Outstanding British Debut” for his film My Father’s Shadow, and ended his acceptance speech with a shout out to migrant parents and a free Palestine. These messages were completely bleeped out. So, we know that the BBC can censor certain parts, they just didn’t censor a slur. BBC claims that they didn’t hear the slur, so it wasn’t edited out. Though, that’s hard to believe considering there was something yelled, plain as day, that caused the two men on screen to pause for a noticeable moment.

Jayme Lawson gave her opinion at the annual NAACP Image Awards, starting with a shoutout to her co-stars for being so composed and handling everything well. She then stated, “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,” following up with, “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. A real lack of care was exercised for those two black men.”