Inclusion my @rse!
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2026 7:01 pm
Is inclusion only a right for "suitable" people?
The media and much of the internet, especially the Americans, are up in arms after Bafta invited John Davidson, a Tourette’s sufferer who has campaigned for greater awareness of the condition and whose story inspired the film "I Swear" shouted the “N-word” at black actors Michael Jordan and Delroy Lindo from "Sinners" while they were on stage.
The BAFTA organisers had already addressed the risk of unintentional "offensive" interventions from Davidson by informing guests of his presence, and he had indeed "heckled" randomly throughout, mostly saying things like “boring” and “fûck” - but despite that, the sh1te really hit the fan at this (allegedly) racist abuse from a man whose disability means that he can't stop himself from making the most inappropriate comments.
Here's a clip about his life:
The Guardian, no less, has printed an article suggesting that disabled people should perhaps not go out in public if they're likely to be a bit embarrassing to others:
Also, the actor who played Davidson in the biopic won the BAFTA for Best Actor for pretending to have Tourette's, from these same people who couldn't bear to be in the same room as an actual person with Tourette's.
I mean - seriously?? Surely this is just saying that the disabled are messy smelly people that we don't want to see? And the idea that this is an appropriate response from people who were at the ceremony and who knew he was there and why, as well as (some of) the public response to this has been truly unconscionable.
Even people who don't think he should have been kept away from the "normal" people at the awards (how big of them!) are saying he should apologise.
Am I losing my mind or is it no absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that he has to apologise for his disability at an event that has just awarded actors for their portrayal of his DISABILITY.
The media and much of the internet, especially the Americans, are up in arms after Bafta invited John Davidson, a Tourette’s sufferer who has campaigned for greater awareness of the condition and whose story inspired the film "I Swear" shouted the “N-word” at black actors Michael Jordan and Delroy Lindo from "Sinners" while they were on stage.
The BAFTA organisers had already addressed the risk of unintentional "offensive" interventions from Davidson by informing guests of his presence, and he had indeed "heckled" randomly throughout, mostly saying things like “boring” and “fûck” - but despite that, the sh1te really hit the fan at this (allegedly) racist abuse from a man whose disability means that he can't stop himself from making the most inappropriate comments.
Here's a clip about his life:
The Guardian, no less, has printed an article suggesting that disabled people should perhaps not go out in public if they're likely to be a bit embarrassing to others:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/f ... his-is-whyWhat could have been done? Davidson himself made the decision to leave the event; perhaps there could have been a conversation in advance about him attending only a chosen part of the ceremony, and about what the risks were, and surely no one was better informed about these risks than Davidson.
Also, the actor who played Davidson in the biopic won the BAFTA for Best Actor for pretending to have Tourette's, from these same people who couldn't bear to be in the same room as an actual person with Tourette's.
I mean - seriously?? Surely this is just saying that the disabled are messy smelly people that we don't want to see? And the idea that this is an appropriate response from people who were at the ceremony and who knew he was there and why, as well as (some of) the public response to this has been truly unconscionable.
Even people who don't think he should have been kept away from the "normal" people at the awards (how big of them!) are saying he should apologise.
Am I losing my mind or is it no absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that he has to apologise for his disability at an event that has just awarded actors for their portrayal of his DISABILITY.