Tourette syndrome is front of mind for many people this week after John Davidson, a Tourette syndrome activist whose life inspired the BAFTA-nominated film “I Swear,” shouted expletives at the British awards ceremony, which was aired by the BBC.
In an uncontrollable outburst known as a tic, Davidson yelled, “Shut the fuck up” and “fuck you” at different points during the ceremony.
But the world is in particular uproar as a result of him yelling the N-word at “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who are Black, as they presented an award.
This moment brought up many questions about Tourette syndrome and thoughts about deep-seated racism in the world. Here’s what to know:
Tourette’s is a neurological disorder that can cause verbal and physical tics, such as blinking, throat-clearing and outbursts.
“Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects your brain and nerves,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. It’s more common in men than women and shows up in childhood, often around age 6. It’s estimated that 1 out of 160 children in the U.S. have Tourette syndrome.
The disorder is known for causing tics, which are involuntary, unwanted movements or sounds. Tics exist on a spectrum and vary from mild movements to more severe outbursts like Davidson’s shouting at the BAFTAs.
There are two types of tics: vocal tics and physical (motor) tics, said Dr. Adjoa Smalls-Mantey, an emergency psychiatrist in New York City and president of the New York County Psychiatric Society.
“A motor tic can be anything from head bobbing, arm jerking, maybe grimacing or blinking. Sometimes people might shrug their shoulders,” Smalls-Mantey said. “And then a vocal tic might look more like someone clearing their throat or grunting, sniffing, hooting — and then you can have other outbursts, like we saw, one called coprolalia where you’re yelling out obscene words, maybe derogatory terms or things that are not appropriate technically in public.”
These can be sexual words or expletives, like we saw at the BAFTAs.
When someone with Tourette’s shouts obscene words, they are not necessarily fueled by underlying beliefs.
All over social media, users are wondering if Davidson’s use of the N-word stems from individual racism or was purely an uncontrollable outburst.
“From our understanding of the disease, and we really don’t understand a lot, it is a neurological disease — it’s a disease of lack of impulse control,” Smalls-Mantey said.
We all know this awful word, even if we don’t use it; it lives somewhere in our brains.
“To say that somebody necessarily holds a certain derogatory view or hates something or someone, it’s hard to say without having previous context or knowledge of that person outside of one incident,” Smalls-Mantey added.
“But I’m also not saying that the person has these views at all,” said Smalls-Mantey. “It’s very hard.”
Davidson did release a statement and said he is “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”
“It is a neurological disorder, so this isn’t a choice,” said Kate Hanselman, a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with Thriveworks. Tics are a neurological impulse, Hanselman added, “it’s like, if you get an eyelash in your eye and blink, it’s like that.”
Iona Wolff via Getty Images
Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award when John Davidson, who has Tourette’s syndrome, yelled the N-word at them in an uncontrollable outburst.
Tics, which include outbursts, can worsen in stressful environments.
“One of the things that we do see in tic disorders, and especially with coprolalia, is that these urges and tics come when you’re under high-stress, or even periods of excitement,” Smalls-Mantey explained.
A situation like the BAFTAs, with the lights, attention, celebrity encounters, stage time and more, would be a lot for anyone, whether they have Tourette’s or not.
“During those times … you’re worried about something, all these things come to mind, then you can’t even suppress the way the normal person can,” said Smalls-Mantey.
There are treatments available for Tourette’s, but no cure.
For someone with a disorder like Tourette’s, “you would want to do the most that you can to be in treatment to prevent these uncomfortable and hurtful situations from happening,” Smalls-Mantey said.
“Tourette’s can be challenging to treat because it is a neurological impulse,” Hanselman noted.
But there are therapies and medications available, both experts said.
“The thing to be aware of is it’s not like you can just take this one medication, take a pill, and then it’ll completely suppress all of your tics and urges forever,” Smalls-Mantey said. “And as a public, we can do our best to all support those that are hurt by the actions of people that are suffering with this illness and other mental illnesses, in general, and also offer them support and treatment.”
Regardless, words are harmful, and disregarding this moment as a “harmless” outburst is a disservice to the Black community.
“I think the bigger conversation is really more about the BBC’s action, because they could have done things on their end to prevent this situation from being even worse,” Smalls-Mantey said.
The BBC has since issued a statement saying producers “didn’t hear” the slur. BAFTA, too, issued a statement, and Davidson as well. (Although many social media users aren’t thrilled with any of these statements.)
At the time, BAFTA host Alan Cumming offered an apology that fell short in the view of many observers, and the BBC aired the slur (despite the fact that it cut moments like an award-winner’s “Free Palestine” declaration). Delroy Lindo also noted that no one immediately reached out to him or Michael B. Jordan after the incident.
“[This] shows a lack of cultural sensitivity and [regard] for the trauma of Black people and how we might feel, or how we would feel, for sure, around such a hurtful word being said,” Smalls-Mantey said. “And even the apology statement that was offered at the end said … ‘we’re sorry if anyone was offended,’ but it was not a definitive declaration of, ’we recognize this is hurtful, people would be hurt.’”
“Any Black person that hears that would, of course, freeze, it’s just instantly triggering because of the history of how loaded that word is,” Smalls-Mantey added.
But the fact that Tourette’s is a mental disorder makes this harder. Did it come from a place of racism? We don’t know — and, once again, Davidson has said in a statement that it didn’t. But what happened at the BAFTAs is problematic either way.
The uproar speaks to deep-seated racism in our society.
“As an emergency psychiatrist, I work with patients when they are at their sickest,” Smalls-Mantey said. “Many times patients in the midst of a manic episode have called me the ‘N-word,’ a monkey, or told me to ‘go back to Africa.’”
“I know they are sick but it still stings, and it wears on you to know that society’s racist views have imprinted on someone to the extent that these hateful sentiments, whether true beliefs or not, are deep within someone so that when they are disinhibited by a mental illness, they come out,” Smalls-Mantey added.
“It’s interesting who is offered compassion and who is held accountable by being ‘cancelled’” when these types of outbursts occur, she observed.
“Some people are given more grace and deference. And their mental illness is enough to extend grace, but grace is not extended to others who are also suffering with a mental illness, and I wonder if that is partially because of their racial background,” said Smalls-Mantey, referring to the fact that Davidson appears to be white.
Davidson was at the event to promote a film about Tourette’s, but this incident is likely raising awareness about the syndrome even more than the movie itself.
“I hope this allows us to do two things. First … learning about the disorder, there can be more funding to better understand what’s the cause and advance better treatments,” Smalls-Mantey said. “But also for us all as a society to think about where we are when it comes to race and who matters, because it was definitely … a conscious decision not to take this statement out.”
Many folks on social media are pointing out that there are lots of excuses for Davidson and the BAFTAs, but not so much for Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo and the Black community at large, who are being told, “Sorry if you felt hurt” or “This isn’t racism” with no acknowledgement of the trauma the N-word holds.
“I hope this continues to drive institutions there to be more aware of all groups in their society,” Smalls-Mantey said. “We have to remember to protect all groups in society. Everyone’s worthy of that protection.”
