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Sinners actress Wunmi Mosaku is weighing in on the N-word controversy that overshadowed the 2026 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards.
Tourette’s activist John Davidson shouted a racial slur on February 22 while Mosaku’s costars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for best visual effects. Davidson, who inspired the BAFTA-winning film I Swear, was in the audience for the ceremony and had repeated outbursts due to involuntary tics.
“I was there and it was painful to have that celebration kind of really tainted for me,” Mosaku, 39, told Entertainment Tonight on Sunday, March 1, at SAG’s 2026 Actor Awards.
She continued, “You know, I have no hard feelings toward John Davidson at all. Like, he has a condition.”
The Oscar nominee said she was most concerned by both BAFTA’s and awards broadcaster BBC’s handling of the situation.
“I feel like BAFTA has a lot of lessons to learn,” Mosaku said. “I think [Sinners costar] Jayme Lawson said it yesterday, it felt, like, exploitative and performative to have someone there without the full protection of everybody, including him and anyone in that audience. There were children in that audience.”
Mosaku then pinpointed the BBC’s decision to air the racial slur in the U.K. despite the awards ceremony airing on a two-hour delay and other language deemed offensive being removed from the broadcast.
“That’s one thing, and then the BBC is a whole other thing,” the actress said. “That’s the bit that kind of kept me awake at night and brought tears to my eyes. I was like, ‘You really chose to keep that in.’ I can’t understand it, and I’m not sure I can forgive it.”
John Davidson and Robert Aramayo Aurore Marechal/Getty Images
Following the awards, Davidson, 54, told Variety that he had apologized to Jordan, 39, and Lindo, 73.
“When socially unacceptable words come out, the guilt and shame on the part of the person with the condition is often unbearable and causes enormous distress,” Davidson said in an interview on Tuesday, February 24. “I can’t begin to explain how upset and distraught I have been as the impact from Sunday sinks in.”
“The only time I became aware that my tic had reached the stage was when Delroy and Michael B. Jordan appeared to look up from their role as presenters, and soon after that I decided to leave the auditorium,” Davidson explained.
Davidson serves as the inspiration for the BAFTA-winning I Swear, which explores Tourette syndrome. Tourette’s “is a neurological disorder that may cause sudden unwanted and uncontrolled rapid and repeated movements or vocal sounds called tics,” per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
A judge for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards has resigned after the way the organization handled Tourette’s activist John Davidson yelling a racial slur and other obscenities during the 2026 ceremony. Jonte Richardson announced on Monday, February 23, that he was resigning after seeing how the situation was handled, writing via […]
Host Alan Cumming addressed Davidson’s tics during the awards ceremony twice.
“You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience,” Cumming, 61, told the audience. “Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone.”
Later, Cumming said, “Tourette’s syndrome is a disability, and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette’s syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
