Alan Cumming has branded the BAFTA racial slur scandal the result of ‘bad, bad, bad leadership’ that left him ‘p***ed off’.
At the BAFTAs in February, John Davidson, who has severe Tourette’s syndrome and was attending to support a film about his life, involuntarily shouted the N-word while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage presenting an award.
Scandal erupted when the BBC failed to omit the slur from the broadcast and left the clip online for over 12 hours and while Alan had issued a warning about John’s tics, he did not hear the racial slur due to his earpiece.
The Traitors US star, 61, spoke to The Times about the scandal and lamented how ‘poor John’ struggled with the scrutiny and poorly-handled situation.
While vowing to never host the show again, Alan said: ‘[It was] bad people who weren’t doing their jobs properly, who really had not prepared and let people down.’
Alan Cumming has branded the BAFTA racial slur scandal the result of ‘bad, bad, bad leadership’ that left him ‘p***ed off’ (pictured hosting the awards in February)
John, 54, was appearing at awards in honour of the film I Swear, which details his life and how he was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at a time when little was known about the condition.
Prior to the ceremony, Alan issued a warning about the tics that may be heard however the extremity of his language was not emphasised.
Following the moment when Michael and Delroy were on-stage, Alan issued an apology to viewers from the teleprompter for the uttering of the word – however he has now explained he did not know why he was apologising.
Addressing the shots, Alan told the crowd: ‘You may have heard some strong offensive language tonight, but if you’ve seen the film I Swear, it’s about the experience of a person with Tourette syndrome…
‘It is a disability and the ticks you have heard tonight are involuntary that means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language and we apologise if it has caused offence.’
On the apology, he said: ‘I watched myself back. I was very smiley, I didn’t do it with the gravitas and tone I would have used had I known. That p***ed me off.’
At the BAFTAs in February, John Davidson, who has severe Tourette’s syndrome and was attending to support a film about his life, involuntarily shouted the N-word while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage presenting an award
Discussing how he could not hear, he said: ‘I had a thing in my ear and you can’t hear very specifically what’s happening…
‘I haven’t actually asked them, but I don’t imagine that Delroy and Michael B Jordan heard the actual slur either, — they were probably just, like, ‘Well, there’s someone shouting in the audience.’ ‘
On how he was involved, he said: ‘It was an international scandal. Then poor John gave this interview saying, ‘I’m not a racist. I called Alan Cumming a paedophile too.’..
‘Oh great! He’s equal opportunities and my name and ‘paedophile’ were in the same sentences all over the world’.
When asked if he would return as host, he said: ‘Right before it started, I said to my agent, “Remind me, I never want to do this again”‘.
Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were on stage when the slur was uttered
After shouting the slur, John appeared to have left the ceremony in the second half of the show as his outbursts could no longer be heard.
According to Variety, John left of his own accord and was not asked to leave by BAFTA. A source told the publication that he was an ‘invited guest’ and under no circumstances would he be asked to leave the ceremony.
The neurological condition, characterised by a combination of involuntary noises and movements called tics, affects roughly one in 100 children, according to NHS England.
I Swear stars Robert Aramayo as campaigner John and depicts his younger years living in Glasgow, when he was first diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.
The film was nominated in the Outstanding British Film category, but lost out to Hamnet.
