Congrats to the BAFTAs for Delivering the Worst Award Show Discourse Since the Slap

The BAFTAs (aka the British Oscars) produced some pretty incredible headlines Sunday night: Wunmi Mosaku won best supporting actress and Sean Penn won best supporting actor, giving us no clear favorite for these awards as we enter the Oscars home stretch. Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams made their red carpet debut as a couple. (Sob.) And English actor Robert Aramayo beat out Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, Ethan Hawke, and Jesse Plemons for best actor. (No, I hadn’t heard of him either!) Aramayo stars in a British movie called I Swear, about real-life Scottish Tourette Syndrome activist John Davidson who’s “[educated] the nation about the condition,” according to the Guardian, and who was given an Order of the British Empire honor by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019. The movie shows him shouting “Fuck the queen!” shortly before meeting her.

Which brings us to the story that’s unfortunately becomethe main BAFTA headline. Davidson was in the audience, which makes sense, given that a movie based on his life was nominated for multiple awards. Host Alan Cumming at one point thanked the audience for “understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone,” while hearing “some strong language in the background [which] can be part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people.” That strong language included a “fuck you” and a “shut the fuck up” and then, horribly, the n-word while Jordan and his co-star Delroy Lindo presented an award. 

I’ve waded through the internet muck this morning so you don’t have, but I also suspect you could probably predict how bad the discourse has developed—though if you’re cynical enough, people’s attempts to out woke-each other on anti-ableism vs. anti-racism might make you snort.