John Davidson Claims BBC Edited Out Homophobic Verbal Tic Towards Alan Cumming 

Tourette’s advocate John Davdison says the BBC had edited out an involuntary homophobic comment directed at BAFTAs host Alan Cumming.

Davidson, who has been in recent controversy after involuntarily calling Michael B. Jordanand Delroy Lindo a racial slur, says that the BBC edited out other verbal tics. These included homophobic insults directed at Cumming who was the host for the 2026 BAFTAs ceremony that took place on Sunday, Feb. 22.

The BBC aired the ceremony on a two hour delay but the racial slur said by Davidson was not omitted from the broadcast. The corporation apologized for their failure to properly edit the broadcast and removed it temporarily from their streaming service IPlayer.

Davidson criticized the BBC for their failure to action, telling Variety, “I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past, and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette’s and worked harder to prevent anything that I said – which, after all, was some 40 rows back from the stage – from being included in the broadcast.”

Davidson revealed that during the ceremony, a joke about Paddington Bear made by Cumming triggered an involuntary homophobic verbal tic.

“Alan Cumming joked about his own sexuality and, when referencing Paddington Bear, said, ‘Maybe you would like to come home with me, Paddington. It wouldn’t be the first time I have taken a hairy Peruvian bear home with me,'” he said. “This resulted in homophobic tics from me and led to a shout of ‘pedophile’ that was likely triggered because Paddington Bear is a children’s character.”

Davidson added, “I would appreciate reports of the event explaining that I ticked perhaps 10 different offensive words on the night of the awards. The N-word was one of these, and I completely understand its significance in history and in the modern world, but most articles are giving the impression I shouted one single slur on Sunday.”

Cumming had addressed the audience following Davidson shouting the N-word 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.”

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