Alan Cumming apologises for 'trauma triggering' BAFTAs
BAFTAs host Alan Cumming has issued an apology for the ceremony turning into a "trauma triggering s***show" after Tourette's campaigner John Davidson involuntarily blurted out the N-word while Sinners co-stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were onstage presenting a prize.
BAFTAs host Alan Cumming has branded the 2026 ceremony a "trauma triggering s***show".
The Traitors host took to the stage to from the prizegiving in London on February 22 but the ceremony was engulfed in controversy after Tourette's campaigner John Davidson - whose life inspired acclaimed movie I Swear - involuntarily blurted out the N-word while Sinners co-stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were onstage presenting a prize.
The incident prompted an apology from BAFTA bosses and now Alan has taken to social media to say sorry. He wrote: "It's now a week since I hosted the BAFTAs.
"What should have been an evening celebrating creativity as well as diversity and inclusion turned into a trauma triggering s***show.
"I'm so sorry for all the pain Black people have felt at hearing that word echoed round the world. I'm so sorry the Tourettes community has been reminded of the lack of understanding and tolerance that abounds regarding their condition."
Alan went on to add: "The only possible good that could come of this is a reminder that words matter, that rushing to judgment about things of which we are not fully cognisant is folly, that all trauma must be recognised and honoured."
The actor concluded his statement by conceding it was wrong for the moment to have been shown on TV by the BBC, adding: "We were all let down by decisions made to both broadcast slurs and censor free speech.
"Congratulations to all the artists whose work was overshadowed by the night's events."
Tourette's sufferer John left the ceremony early and later apologised for what happened admitting he felt "deeply mortified", while the BBC issued an apology for airing the moment and BAFTA bosses confirmed they are launching a "comprehensive review".
In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, I Swear director Kirk Jones insisted the painful moment should never have made it to the TV broadcast, declaring the subject of his film was "let down" by those in charge.
He said: "I think John was let down on many, many levels. And I think the fact that that [tic] went out for broadcast was perhaps one of the worst ways in which he was let down on the night.
"If you just imagine for a second that that was not broadcast, then suddenly the problem was restricted to everyone in the room. And BAFTA could write to everyone in the room, and they [could have] said: 'We wanted to apologise again, we understand, this, that and the other.'
"They could have done that the next day to all the guests, and no one would have known that it happened … You wouldn’t have the clips."
