A new Saturday Night Live sketch has proved controversial after poking fun at the incident that saw Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson suffer an involuntary tic at the BAFTAs and shout out a racial slur.
Last Sunday (February 22), Davidson was in attendance at the awards ceremony to support I Swear, a film that tells the story of his life with the condition, and at several points, the involuntary tics associated with it were loudly audible in the Royal Festival Hall.
On one occasion, he was heard shouting the N-word while Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for Best Visual Effects, while he also said “shut the f*** up” during BAFTA chair Sara Putt’s speech, and “f*** you” to the directors of Best Children’s and Family Film winner Boong.
In the PSA-style skit titled ‘Tourette’s,’ a host of celebrities notorious for courting their own controversies – among them J.K. Rowling, Mel Gibson, The Real Housewives of New York star Jill Zarin, Armie Hammer, Louis C.K., Bill Cosby and Ye – claimed they suffer from the neurological condition in the new sketch.
“I’m Mel Gibson, and as I probably should have pointed out decades ago, I too suffer from Tourette’s, which explains a lot of the things I’ve said or yelled through the years,” said the Braveheart star, portrayed by Andrew Dismukes.
Actor Hammer, played by the episode’s host, Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie, said: “Not many people know this, but one of the most common side effects of Tourette’s is cannibalism.”
Zarin, played by Sarah Sherman, whose recent video critique of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show led to her firing from the Real Housewives series, remarked, “I suffer from severe long-winded monologue-style Tourette’s, a condition that affects nine out of 10 people on Long Island.”
Ashley Padilla’s Rowling added: “Tourette’s isn’t just blurting out an offensive word. It can be years-long obsession with something like trans life and a deep anger that someone who was born with a wand in their pants would want that one removed,” while Ye confessed to having “three different kinds of Tourette’s.”
Harkening back to the BAFTA controversy, the show’s mock Tourette’s PSA was “brought to you by National Workforce of Rethinking Disabilities, or N.W.O.R.D”, which comes after Davidson said he was “deeply mortified” by his N-word outburst at last weekend’s BAFTA ceremony.
Tourette’s syndrome causes sudden and involuntary sounds or movements, known as tics, and as explained by Tourette’s Action in a statement last week, the tics are “not a reflection of a person’s beliefs, intentions or character” and are “neurological, not intentional”.
Davidson has had Tourette’s since he was 12 years old and as depicted in I Swear, he has become a celebrated campaigner, activist and educator on the subject.
Lindo has since said that he wished someone from BAFTA had spoken to him and Jordan after the N-word incident, but said that they both “did what we had to do” while delivering their speech.
Attendees at the ceremony have said that they were warned ahead of the show of Davidson’s condition, but Variety have reported that none of the nominees or presenters were contacted by BAFTA ahead of the show.
BAFTAs host Alan Cumming issued an apology from the stage during the show, saying: “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.”
The show was broadcast by the BBC on a two-hour tape delay, but the use of the N-word was not edited out of the show, for which the BBC have since apologised, and it has now been edited out of the version of the show that is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
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