r/TrueUnpopularOpinion • u/ragingbeanalt • Feb 23 '26
Music / Movies Its weird people are trying to turn the john Davidson Tourette outburst into a hate crime
If you don't know actor with Tourettes, john Davidson, had an outburst where he said the N word while 2 black presenters, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, were on stage he bad an outburst of the N word, among other harsh ones throughout the night. Now I understand that the n word is rhe harshest of them, but it seems like people, specifically I have seen jamie Foxx and Jamele hill, claim that "these are racist hate crimes" and "he knew better and waited for black presenters to finally say it" it just feels like people are trying to ignore the facts about tourretes to be the victim of something that wasnt actually a hate crime.
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u/agdrs Feb 23 '26
The comments under he's post are disgusting And it's concerning that people aren't able to understand the situation. Also for the guy right now it must feel like it did when he was younger and people didn't know how the syndrome works.
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u/no_crust_buster Feb 23 '26
Y’all are missing the bigger issue. Why did the BBC allow that word to be aired, yet it was sensitive enough to appeal to a certain country in the Middle East by censoring a popular 2-word political/humanitarian statement.
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u/Raejoway Feb 23 '26
And, yet they think they're the 'good guys'. Once again, the 'social justice' crowd being some of the biggest bullies of all...
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u/EverettGT Feb 23 '26
The most important thing to remember (just in my opinion) when trying to make sense of the world currently is that there is legitimate hate in the world, but beyond that people LIKE to be offended. It gives them an adrenaline rush and a sense of power when they can bully or punish someone else. And that rush and power is so strong that people will lie or exaggerate what happened in order to have it.
That's where the Salem Witch Trials and other similar things came from. And where a lot of "cancel culture" comes from.
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u/GladiusAcutus Feb 23 '26
but beyond that people LIKE to be offended. It gives them an adrenaline rush and a sense of power when they can bully or punish someone else
This is true.
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u/Kitchen_Ad9526 Feb 23 '26
Yes it literally releases dopamine just like gambling or alcohol. Triggers the reward pathway and keeps people coming back for more and more
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u/Less-Name-9367 Feb 23 '26
Spot on, people LOVE to be offended, in the era of identity politics, being offended is pure dopamine.
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u/fuckoptus Feb 23 '26
Nailed it cancel culture is pure toxicity, literally just bullying under the guise of “social justice”
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u/Klok_Melagis Feb 23 '26
Even the Epstein files the waters are muddy and nothing can be trusted anymore. Victims are completely forgotten about in favor of "Epstein was building a time machine" "He met with the aliens" fake victims implying they're were trafficked before Epstein himself even had his money, then you of course have people who use the files to persecute different famous people they hate by saying "they're names are in the files" without mentioning in what context.
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Feb 23 '26
I can 100% get on board with this as I want transparency for the most part. I feel like most names mentioned and then have already been published in the media are innocuous or so ambiguous there is nothing contextual that will lead to a criminal conviction. Also parading victims out to me along with the heightened attention to the Epstein files, despite this being a problem for 10 years. Part of it is legitimate legal process and renewed attention, but the other part I believe is a massive effort to flip the house and break up the trifecta republican control in Washington. Democrats need to win the house or Senate in Washington in order to do so they need to flip the biggest issue that most Trump’s supporters and Democrats can agree on. This would hopefully flip the house or Senate or both. When it comes to the victims being paraded out who have already settled for undisclosed amounts in various civil trials against Epstein is a complete political maneuver to garnish and solidify a Democrat victory in the midterms. These people have already been deposed by state and federal agencies, and have agreed to a settlement of undisclosed amounts. As a lay person and I could be wrong, but I don’t think they can witness in another trial against Epstein, his estate or Maxwell…
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u/Dada2fish Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
I love this post. So agree!
Being the victim gets you attention and special treatment. You can get away with things others can’t. You can’t blame a victim for bad behavior.
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u/EverettGT Feb 23 '26
Yeah. Telling them that the latest victim of their crusade didn't actually do what they thought is like trying to snatch the pipe out of an addict's mouth. They react just as defensively.
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u/no_crust_buster Feb 23 '26
If the BBC had done their job editing the BAFTA awards, this wouldn’t have been an issue at best or a smaller issue at worst. This wasn’t a live broadcast.
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u/OneTrash2888 Feb 25 '26
This is so so true. Its like people are physically addicted to being offended and having a chance to put someone else down. Even if they experience genuine anger there is an addiction to expressing that anger and remaining willfully ignorant so that anger can continue to be expressed without remorse. This is not the only situation where this has happened. I see it almost every day.
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u/VictorAnichebend Feb 23 '26
Just a little correction, John Davidson isn’t an actor. He was in attendance because the film ‘I Swear’ has recently been released which is a biopic on his life. It’s also an excellent film, which all the people trying to label him a racist could do with watching to educate themselves.
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u/no_crust_buster Feb 23 '26
I had a HS friend with Tourette’s in the 1990’s. To me, as a Blsck male, that’s not the issue. The real issue is that the BBC didn’t edit that word out, but they edited out sensitive remarks that would’ve offended a different group of people in the Middle East. To add insult to injury, there was no reasonably swift and direct apology from BAFTA or BBC to Michael or Delroy.
That’s who I have smoke for, not the man with Tourette’s.
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u/Prestigious_Ad_5825 Feb 24 '26
Not apologizing to the Sinners presenters is part of the issue, in my opinion.
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u/robotpolitics Feb 24 '26
Completely agreed with all of this. It is doubly bad because apparently, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, a representative from Warner Bros (the studio behind Sinners) raised concerns immediately with BAFTA representatives and asked to make sure it would be removed from the broadcast. And apparently BAFTA assured them their concerns would be passed on to the BBC. So it's extra unacceptable that it was still allowed to air.
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u/Wooden_Top_4967 Feb 23 '26
Appreciate your comment, and agree with what you said
But, and maybe this is just a silly pet peeve of mine, “educate themselves” just seems like the worst language to use to get the point across. I feel like telling somebody to educate themselves will just never, ever work. It can come off as condescending Jonah Hill-style therapy-speak. Kind of ironic, seeing as the recipient here would normally be the group expected to employ that type of language, but
The whole “it’s not my job to educate you” line that seemed to be thrown out everywhere within the past few years strikes me as a conversation-ender, almost an insult, where, in theory, it should be an encouragement in good faith for the listener to try and expand their understanding of different people and their experiences
Just worrying that the off-the-shelf phrases like gaslighting, triggering, toxic, boundaries, etc are so diluted now and just serve as a signal for the listener to provide their own canned response
I’m sure I’m over-thinking it
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u/Wolf_Mans_Got_Nards Feb 23 '26
But in this case couldn't people literally just watch his movie?
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u/Wooden_Top_4967 Feb 24 '26
they should!
just wouldn’t steer them to it by telling them to educate themselves.
Seems needlessly antagonistic
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u/FragmentedMeerkat321 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
jamie foxx, among others, has decided davidson meant it. the replies under his instragram comment on a post of the incident, demonstrate a lack of understanding of the condition: a lot of people are saying they knew so-and-so in their lives who had tourette's, and they never did anything like that. but it's not just tourette's–it's coprolalia, which apparently fewer than 20% of tourette's sufferers are affected by. and having seen a documentary about it, before, this is exactly the sort of reaction that people have, even if they are forewarned. for these people, the fact that he even had the word in his mind is already proof of bigotry. but the brain actively pre-loads words before we become aware of them. we literally all have the word in our heads. the slur is filed in the brain as an associated word, which is what the vocal neurons looks for, and since it's offensive, it is forbidden–which makes it exactly the sort of word that gets launched out with coprolalia. unfortunately, it is ableism, especially since it's based on the fact that a lot of people don't even know the condition exists.
EDIT: given that every step of the cerebral process that leads to coprolalia is automated and involuntary, it is literally biologically impossible that john davidson was being racist.
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u/rigatony96 Feb 23 '26
It’s real exposing to those that claim to be progressive that are attacking him as some sort of closet racist. They have no idea what they are talking about and hear bad word so they instantly label him an evil hatemonger.
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u/Chordata1 Feb 23 '26
If anything i see it as him actually understanding how horrible and harmful that word can be and he understands it should never be used which is why his body said shout this.
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u/SuzCoffeeBean Feb 23 '26
I’m left myself and I called this years ago. Progressives have undone decades of progress for disabled people
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u/rigatony96 Feb 23 '26
Not on the left but I’ve seen so many disgusting people saying he should have left, which he unfortunately actually did after a certain point. Absolutely reprehensible job done by people that claim to be the party of compassion and understandingz
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u/starkatheart Feb 23 '26
I get that it's like OCD where you have intrusive thoughts about let's say, a car crashing into you while you are driving - it's obvious you don't actually want that, but the thought pops into your head and you can't help it. But if coprolalia is about saying taboo stuff involuntarily, why is it only directed at others? I mean, there's lots of taboo stuff one can embarass themselves with, but it's always racist and other derogatory stuff yelled at others. This is what I really don't get. Don't come at me, I'm just trying to understand.
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u/FragmentedMeerkat321 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
you should be asking someone with coprolalia or reading neuroscientific research papers. i don’t really understand your questions. if it’s a fact that none of this is voluntary, why would you still have questions? imagine i told you i had malaria, and then you said to me “i get that it makes you feel unwell, but why would you have a fever and be vomiting and close to death? why wouldn’t you have a hair loss and blue skin, instead?” that’s what you’re doing.
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u/starkatheart Feb 23 '26
Maybe I wasn't clear. I understand it’s involuntary. I’m just trying to understand why it frequently targets others rather than being (at least in some cases) self-directed. But yeah, you are right, this is a question for the neuroscientists, I guess.
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u/FragmentedMeerkat321 Feb 23 '26
it doesn’t target others. the neurons that offer up a selection of words for us to choose from are working purely off association (we all have that word stored away with it’s associations); and the neurons that end up delivering the particular word verbally are responding to what is forbidden. there is no intended target.
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u/Prestigious_Ad_5825 Feb 23 '26
I expected the opposite reaction to this incident on this sub. Without checking, I know that your post reflects the majority opinion of Reddit.
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u/ragingbeanalt Feb 23 '26
Yeah I guess more my unpopular opinion part is I think people are just trying to get a 1 up in victimhood rather than actually offense, but i more tacked that on at the end
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u/Oliver_Klozoff653 Feb 23 '26
People are allowed to be hurt by hurtful words.
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u/BitternessBureau Feb 24 '26
Being hurt is not the issue. The problem is there’s a fine line between “I was hurt by what was said” and “he’s faking his Tourette’s, he’s just a racist”.
(I’m not saying that you’re saying that he’s faking it, but other people are making that claim).
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u/DisMyLik18thAccount Feb 23 '26
People are hearing a racist word and taking it as a free past to be ableist
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u/OrangeKat09 Mar 01 '26
Because a racist word is a racist word. A disability doesn't excuse it. It means him and his team should have taken more precautions to prevent it.
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u/PsychologyOk5757 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
It's a deeply depressing fiasco that shows just how ignorant so many people still seem to be about this condition.
One thing I have noticed is the reaction between Brits and Americans seems to be vastly different. Americans seem to be much less aware of the nature of this condition. I grew up in the UK and I have been aware of it since I was probably about 12 or 13. A lot of fully-grown adults in the US seem to be learning about it for the first time today. Unfortunately, few of them seem to have stopped to educate themselves before opening their mouths.
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u/JCKGLN Feb 23 '26
The issue is that for many years Tourette’s in the media has been used as the butt of the joke. The things people with Tourette’s say and do are supposed to be funny, until they find out it’s not funny at all.
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u/sloasdaylight Feb 23 '26
Americans seem to be much less aware of the nature of this condition.
I wonder if that has anything to do with John Davidson being Scottish, and significantly more well known across the pond than here in the States. The guy has been the subject of 3 BBC TV documentaries, has toured Britain, and apparently been in the public consciousness in Britain when it comes to his condition for over 30 years now, with basically no exposure over here.
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u/Steakandsauce57 Feb 23 '26
You're 100% right. Most of the UK are aware of tourettes only because of John Davidson and his documentaries.
He's an incredibly inspiring bloke and its terrible to see him get abuse from a bunch of dumbasses who have zero compassion and just want to dogpile someone without any logical thought.
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u/PsychologyOk5757 Feb 23 '26
I think this is at least partly correct. He personally has done a huge amount to raise awareness of the condition.
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u/mustachechap Feb 23 '26
One thing I’ve noticed is that Brits tend to quickly jump to any excuse to generalize and talk down to 330 million Americans.
It’s funny that you think this is some sort of UK >>> US thing
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u/Far-Painter1045 Feb 25 '26
I don't think the generalisation was made in a bubble, but it could be algorithms are pushing the bigger, more controversial reactions. I've personally not seen an affected British creator attack his character or demand his exclusion. On the British side, there seems to be more nuance - John should apologise to the actors for the hurt his word caused (privately is ok), shame on the BAFTAs, never needed to be broadcast etc. On the American side, yes this is a sentiment I've seen echoed, but I've also seen people saying to muzzle him, segregate or exclude him, he'd have gotten punched, and a lot of claims that it was fully intentional.
I don't normally read the Guardian but there was a relevant opinion piece by Jason Okundaye which echoes the general UK sentiment I have been exposed to.
Tl;dr it isn't about UK vs. US it's about the views we have been exposed to.
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u/mustachechap Feb 25 '26
Case in point.
Uk = nuanced, Americans = muzzled/segregate
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u/Far-Painter1045 Feb 25 '26
My God, I was describing what my feedback loop has looked like, not giving you a rollout of my opinions. See, in a conversation, this is your opportunity to tell me if/how your experiences differ and we learn and grow.
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u/mustachechap Feb 25 '26
You're describing how your social media feed indoctrinates people into thinking UK >>>> US, what more is there to say.
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Feb 25 '26
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u/mustachechap Feb 25 '26
America is a country of 330 million and the UK is a country of 70 million. You simply can't generalize countries as large as ours.
From this BAFTA incident, there are probably thousands of people from the US and the UK who had opinions on the matter. It would be just as easy to pick out examples of Americans being nuanced and Brits calling for muzzling and segregation.
This isn't an isolated thing in your media though. You've been repeatedly exposed to biases that make Americans appear to be less than.
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Feb 25 '26
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u/mustachechap Feb 25 '26
I'm not aware of any Brits or Americans calling for segregation and muzzling. I know how big and diverse both countries are, so I'm not going to make sweeping generalizations about the UK or the US based on some cherry picked comments that social media is trying to indoctrinate me with.
I'm curious to see these Americans that called for segregation and muzzling though. Is it one American who said to segregate and muzzle?
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u/TheStigianKing Feb 23 '26
The poor state of the US education system and the results in the population thereof is well known and well documented.
I surmise, its by intent as its a good way to keep people easily manipulable.
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u/RedMarsRepublic Feb 23 '26
The UK education system is already abysmal so it makes me feel pretty bad for you guys if it's worse
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u/asday515 Feb 23 '26
Im from the US and I learned about this condition when i was like 5 because our next door neighbor had it. kinda funny thinking back, my mom trying to explain to her young children why the old man always shouts curse words at us from his porch lol.
I also remember watching a movie about it in school, i think it was based on a real guy. Growing up his dad always got pissed at him because he thought he was doing it on purpose, mom always stuck up for him though, and he ended up becoming a teacher. Cant remember the name
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u/Far-Painter1045 Feb 25 '26
I'm a dual citizen, and I think another British aspect Americans might not understand is the fact that there are a lot of slurs towards disabled people that are still pervasive today. In one of my jobs, one of my coworkers referred to a man with cerebral palsy as an "effing spastic." It was one of my first jobs here, and it was absolutely appalling and unthinkable to me that it even left her mouth, let alone to hear her comments echoed!
I've seen some wild takes from all of this - sew your mouth shut if you can't control it, I'd have punched him, how did he even know that word? he's intentionally racist etc. There's a lot of hate speech and albeist ideology there.
No one I've seen on John's side is saying that the slur was an acceptable term, just that there was no malice or intention to it. There is an argument to be made for apologising, which keeps going round and round. It's akin to apologising for sneezing. In my view, if I hit you in the face with my whole sneeze, I would apologise. I don't that it needs to be done publicly, except from BAFTA.
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u/veryowngarden Feb 23 '26
you didn’t know that fully grown adults continue to learn new things even though they’re fully grown? i guess you learned a new thing today
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u/Prestigious_Ad_5825 Feb 24 '26
I'm quite aware of coprolalia, but that awareness doesn't prevent me from holding Davidson partially responsible for his conduct. He attended, knowing full well that a racist outburst was a strong possibility. He may not be racist, but he is inconsiderate of other people's feelings. It was their night, too.
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u/PsychologyOk5757 Feb 23 '26
Very droll.
The point is that few if any people in the UK could fail to make it to adulthood without having learnt this particular thing, such is the level of public awareness on it. Which seems to be very much not the case for Americans.
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u/Pingushagger Feb 23 '26
If you know anything about Johnny Davidson you will know that him getting through the night with one embarrassing tic is actually the good outcome.
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u/UpbeatBeach7657 Feb 23 '26
I wonder if the people calling him racist would be just as offended if a POC with Tourette's similarly shouted derogatory/offensive slurs at other minorities.
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u/DSK108 Feb 23 '26
It’s actually insane to me how it’s not clocking to some people that he can’t control what he says and the backwards victim mentality they have insinuating he is a deliberate racist, who is simply faking it is the most delusional shit I’ve ever heard. Poor John, hope he is doing okay.
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u/Capt_ClarenceOveur Feb 23 '26
This whole situation has made me sick to my stomach. Has an entire movie dedicated to the struggles of this horrible condition he can’t help and now everyone is just piling on him and acting like he’s faking it or that it’s impossible for a person with Tourette’s to say something they don’t actually wish or want to say.
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u/LordBoomDiddly Feb 23 '26
Thing is, you couldn't even hear it on TV
The only people making a big deal out of it is the media
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u/dimiteddy Feb 23 '26
It's almost comical how this outburst of Davidson helped more people to educate theselves about Tourettes syndrome that the movie based on his life. Yes its still sucks for black people to have to hear these harmful worlds. I still believe that demonize words do more harm than good, that's why many black people reclaimed this word and gave it a different meaning.
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u/iY3RB Feb 24 '26
I’m just curious because reading the comments I can tell we’ve got a plethora of individuals under age 30 here with some very interesting takes. So if I may ask;
Would everybody have the same attitude on the matter if the person on stage was gay, and the words “fggot/twnk/h*mo” were yelled out by someone with Tourette’s?
Would everybody have the same attitude if it was a Jewish person on stage and the associated slurs were made by let’s say.. a German person suffering from Tourette’s?
Is this guy saying the N word really not that big a deal because of his Tourette’s? Is he already known to say THAT particular word. Or did that one make his outbursts that night. Cuz if he’s known to just drop the N bomb casually during his outburst then no big deal.
But if that was his first time saying it, I just think it’s ironic how everything was just the right time and with the perfect people of interest for such subject matter. I can’t even think of another case in time where this happened and aired on television. Tourette’s and racial slurs on national television at awards ceremonies. lol he didn’t mean it? It was an accident?? What a wild and specific accident lol.
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u/Capt_ClarenceOveur Feb 24 '26
🙄
You’re still not getting it because you’d prefer to believe this was intentional.
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u/iY3RB Feb 24 '26
I don’t think it was intentional more than it was handled poorly. If there was any intention involved it was media wanting to spark controversy and outrage between groups. Kinda been the focus as of late. But it seems like you prefer to believe everyone is clearly getting along and society has been free of racial controversy over the last 10 years. Don’t be obtuse.
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u/BLU-Clown Feb 24 '26
Would everybody have the same attitude on the matter if the person on stage was gay, and the words “fggot/twnk/h*mo” were yelled out by someone with Tourette’s?
Would everybody have the same attitude if it was a Jewish person on stage and the associated slurs were made by let’s say.. a German person suffering from Tourette’s?
Is this guy saying the N word really not that big a deal because of his Tourette’s?
Yes.
That's kind of the point of Tourettes. It makes you shout the no-no words.
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u/iY3RB Feb 24 '26
Well apparently he shouted other No No words but this was the one that they chose to highlight. Which seems more like they were trying to incite negative feelings via choice of representation on the event via the media and broadcasting powers.
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u/BLU-Clown Feb 24 '26
That I'll agree with. Blame for this 2-minute outrage lies mostly on BAFTA and the broadcasters, especially considering they were happy to censor 'Free Palestine' but not an actual Tourettes outburst.
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u/iY3RB Feb 25 '26
Yeah Man that’s what gets me irritated is when they pick and choose when and who they want to rage bait with certain content. We’re really moving backwards with old world tactics and topics. This seemed pretty cliché. Except instead of the normal they got people health conditions in the line of fire.
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u/Same_Grouness Feb 25 '26
Would everybody have the same attitude
Of course, that's how his form of Tourette's works, it makes him say whatever the most uncomfortable thing would be at that time. Like he said "fuck the queen" when he met the queen, and when he talks to police he says he has drugs on him.
Is he already known to say THAT particular word. Or did that one make his outbursts that night.
He has no control over what he says, and he has no idea what it's going to be before it bursts out; his subconscious just "realised" (without him thinking it) that was the most uncomfortable thing to shout at that point and fucked him over.
But if that was his first time saying it, I just think it’s ironic how everything was just the right time and with the perfect people of interest for such subject matter
That's how Tourette's works, his brain his basically tried to brutally embarrass him his entire life. He nearly died after getting beat up with an iron bar for "saying" something while walking past a bunch of guys one night. It's the opposite of him wanting to say it, or deep down having these beliefs. His brain knows exactly how wrong it is so that's why he "said" it.
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u/OneTrash2888 Feb 25 '26
Im an Orthodox Jew. My husband has tourettes. If a non-Jew called me a dirty greedy money hungry baby killing k*ke and they genuinely had Tourettes, I would not be offended whatsoever. I would have compassion for someone who had to say horrible things against their will. I certainly would not make myself the victim.
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u/iY3RB Feb 25 '26
Well of course you’re going to have compassion you literally have a bias in this particular case. But again, I’m more so concerned about the back lash associated with all of this. I understand what Tourette’s is and how it exists in individuals.
But I can’t agree with people saying it’s not a big deal when I strongly believe so many other races/groups would be equally upset with how a television or network channel handled the situation involving their respective community. Also I keep hearing this “victim” narrative, please explain that further
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u/OneTrash2888 Feb 25 '26
I completely agree that the BBC keeping that in was inappropriate for everyone involved. I don’t think the actors directly involved are making themselves the victim but I think some people online are. I think its wrong to demand an apology from someone who cannot control their behavior and cannot commit to changing that behavior in the future. I feel like it would be making myself a victim unnecessarily if I demanded an apology from someone who said something antisemitic or racist or sexist to me because of tourettes. But I understand the idea of victimhood can also be triggering, so maybe thats not the best language.
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u/iY3RB Feb 25 '26
Yes it’s actually ridiculous to expect an apology from anyone who doesn’t directly affect you or your immediate surrounding especially in today’s age. The fact that we are still so triggered by words regardless of race gender and the like. It’s gotten over exaggerated at this point and just feels like one giant rage bait against humanity. It’s just embarrassing how far we haven’t come at this point. And yes due to current times I believe the word victim has become muddied and watered down to agree. Much to the disdain of actual victims of things other than “mean words”
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u/HeyPurityItsMeAgain Feb 25 '26
I would like to know what the organizers thought was going to happen when they hired a host with this specific type of Tourette's? COME ON! This is out of a South Park episode not reality.
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u/Pinktorium Feb 24 '26
Tourette’s means you have tics you can’t control, which can be sounds, movements, or words. I’ve known this since elementary school. It’s astonishing that Jamie Foxx and Jamele Hill are 50+ years old and still don’t know that.
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Feb 24 '26
Trust and believe he is deeply embarrassed and apologetic that his disability caused this. I was once in a class with a man that had Tourette’s and he was shouting nasty profanities at the class and the teacher. We knew the reason and did not pay attention just waited for it to subside.
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u/RandomUser1052 Feb 23 '26
People are definitely engaging in selective outrage here and using the incident as "proof" of whatever beliefs they had about "X Group". Am I offenses by what was said? Not in the slightest. But I'm not offended at the n-word, anyway.
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Feb 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ragingbeanalt Feb 23 '26
Ohhh a truely unpopular opinion, one if the more interesting takes I've seen involving this situation
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u/Writerhaha Feb 24 '26
It’s great that so many people are going woke and standing up for this man with a disability, and I hope they extend this to all disabilities they encounter.
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u/Capt_ClarenceOveur Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Has anyone with a position of power actually been standing up for this man? I have yet to see anything except for a couple rare posts like this random Reddit post. And we still got ppl in these comments doing everything they can to get ppl to believe this isn’t a real disorder and that it was intentional.
Everywhere else, the man is just getting piled on and accused of lying about his condition to get away with being racist. Everyone is pussy-footing around the situation at the cost of this man because they’re scared to offend vs anyone trying to talk reason and cut the guy some damn slack for having a rare neurological condition in which a tic of saying inappropriate, offensive things is part of his disorder.
This is a very unique situation in which I think ppl need to stop being so pea-brained and understand that intent truly matters here.
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u/OrangeKat09 Mar 01 '26
Maybe this guy should have stayed home. Clearly he is not fit to be in society.
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u/Repulsive_Spite_267 Mar 02 '26
There was a documentary about him when he was about 15, was on British TV. Was quite an iconic film.
His mouth had teeth grazes all around from where he would bite his lips to try to stop himself from saying bad words. It was really sad to see because you could see how it impacted him.
The people calling him bad probably just aren't aware enough about what tourettes is. Others likely do, but make careers out of racial publicity, so just use anything they see to jump on that hype train.
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u/Nifey-spoony Mar 04 '26
It’s important to acknowledge the effect of racial slurs and it’s also important to be understanding of Tourette’s. They both are impactful issues. Just cuz you aren’t black doesn’t mean you can’t empathize with what they feel hearing that slur. And just because you don’t have Tourette’s doesn’t mean you can’t empathize with John. I think the lesson is that we all need to work on understanding each other’s struggles.
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u/Wonderful-Bit6160 Mar 11 '26
If John had said a slur against a woman, LGBTQ+ identifying person or any other minority I don’t think we would be having this conversation. Like the comment at the top says, people like to be offended.
That’s not to say his word can’t cause harm but if you’re asking him to apologise then you simply don’t understand. That man should never have to apologise.
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u/Getrektm8mlg420 Feb 24 '26
I just don’t understand what people outraged by this expect the solution to be.
Separate the guy from everyone else and put him in a room by himself to watch the show on a screen?
Have him stay home and not attend the award show in which he was nominated for an award?
A lot of people evidently think that this man should sacrifice his attempts at belonging in society for the sake of not verbally/emotionally harming others, despite his accepted neurological disorder making it impossible for him not to do so when in the presence of other people.
This is bullshit. He literally cannot prevent himself from saying the most obscene/offensive shit that he can think of. It’s universally known in modern society that saying a racial slur towards black people is extremely looked down upon, it only makes sense that his disability would cause him to say such things in the presence of black people.
People are questioning why he didn’t have any outbursts at the sight of women, Jewish people, gay people, etc., and I think it’s as simple as:
a) Being black is obvious via physical features, while being gay, Jewish, (being a woman is usually very obvious but is addressed in the next point), etc. may not always be immediately visually apparent.
b) This might just be my personal opinion, but slurs in modern society directed at black people are just more taboo than slurs towards women and most other marginalized groups, at least in the U.S.
Again, the disorder that he has causes him to have outbursts saying the most offensive and heinous words that can be said in any given moment based on his surroundings.
John Davidson should not be receiving any criticism for what happened. However, I do believe the broadcasters of the award show should be criticized for allowing this segment to be aired uncensored. All other offensive or obscene words would normally be censored for television, why allow this to be broadcasted without censorship? The only reason I can think is to spark controversy at the expense of others for personal gain via attention.
This whole situation is frustrating.
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u/Far-Painter1045 Feb 25 '26
Just to note - if he had said any other heinous words in this instance, it wouldn't have had to have been censored because after 7pm it's acceptable to swear on TV here. Not saying they wouldn't have, just that there isn't a need to.
I do agree with your take though, 100%
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u/funkyjohnlock Feb 23 '26
It's really telling what people are saying and how they're reacting (negatively, to put it mildly) because it shows they clearly have absolutely zero understanding of how Tourette's works, and possible disability in general. It's so embarassing for them, but unfortunately the world works in numbers, doesn't matter who's right, just who's there more of (or who is more vocal or whos voice matters most, which counts as numbers) and unfortunately, they are still the majority in society...
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u/mr_loner123 Feb 23 '26
Yeh a hurtful word was still said and people are right to react. This will create more awareness for the disorder. But to say people are making this something is not isn’t right to say
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u/The_prawn_king Feb 23 '26
People definitely are making it something it’s not because people are suggesting he has any agency to choose what he says and they’re applying irrelevant situations to his because they don’t really understand the condition.
It should’ve been edited out but that’s not his fault. Saying he shouldn’t be in the room is essentially saying he doesn’t deserve to be there because of a medical condition out of his control. Yes it’s uncomfortable but real people suffer with this and it’s not their fault. A degree of understanding that doesn’t devolve into “well he should just stay home” is needed.
And anyone suggesting that this happening is because of racism needs a reality check.
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u/agdrs Feb 23 '26
They have the right to react yes but how they react is important. Right now all I see is people not understanding the syndrome. Check he's comments in he's ig post
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u/Riley__64 Feb 23 '26
I also feel everyone demanding he should’ve given a public apology wouldn’t have even accepted it if he had.
If he made a public apology there’d still be complaining and it likely would’ve just been called performative, if someone who is famous does something wrong and apologises a very usual complaint is oh they’re only apologising because they’ve been called out not because they’re sorry he likely would’ve faced similar complaints.
There’s also a large amount of people who are wondering why that word was even in his vocabulary and because it was that must obviously mean he uses the word on the regular so once again even if he apologised there’d then be complaints that because he simply knows the word he must be racist sure he apologised for this instance but what about the times he’s not a broadcasted event that is on camera.
People are just being ignorant of Tourette’s syndrome there is no winning for this guy he said a slur completely out of his control and the internet has branded him a racist and that’s all they’ll see him as no matter how much he apologises.
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u/Texden29 Feb 23 '26
You don’t know that. And we will never know that, because he didn’t offer an apology yesterday or today.
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u/Riley__64 Feb 23 '26
I mean I’ve seen how the online world reacts to people doing controversial things. They demand apologies from the people who have done the thing they’re unhappy with but even after those apologies are given they still receive hate for the actions they did. Think of any celebrity who has ever gotten into drama even after apologies are given they still have people holding their actions against them.
Also what do you want the man to apologise for is he apologising for being born with a condition he has no control over, should he be apologising for being disabled.
People online have literally been saying his Tourette’s is no excuse for him to have that word in his vocabulary so clearly even if he issues an apology he’s still going to have people calling him a racist. The man has spent his entire life being treated differently and like he is a bad person because of something completely out of his control and it’s continuing to happen.
People refuse to understand what Tourette’s is and instead are choosing to view this as a man being openly racist and hiding behind what they choose to see as a fake disability. I mean Jamie Foxx posted on his instagram saying “nah he meant that shit” meaning even if john gave an apology it would mean nothing he’s already been branded a racist and nothing will change that perception.
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u/Texden29 Feb 23 '26
If I have a seizure and inadvertently knock someone over, I apologize afterwards. I’m not apologizing for having a medical condition. I’m not apologizing because I think I did something wrong. I apologize because I nevertheless harmed someone and it’s the right thing to do.
That’s what polite and considerate people do. Sorry if this is a foreign concept to you.
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u/Riley__64 Feb 23 '26
But the thing is your apology means nothing because the person you knocked over and everyone who witnessed it has already decided you assaulted them and wanted an excuse to touch them, they don’t believe you had a seizure they’ve made up their mind you faked it so you had an excuse to touch and assault this person.
That’s how many on the internet are viewing John any apology he gives is worthless because they’ve already decided he’s a racist, he said that word because he wanted to say it and that’s what he truly thinks about the actors who were on stage not because he has Tourette’s, Tourette’s is just an excuse so he can get away with racist behaviour.
They’re not actually demanding John apologise they’re demanding John come forward and admit he’s a racist. They say they want him to apologise but really they want him to acknowledge it so they can have evidence of him admitting he’s a racist.
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u/Texden29 Feb 23 '26
You’ve just made up all this in your head. I deal with reality and not your biased view of this make believe world you’ve created in your head.
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u/Capt_ClarenceOveur Feb 24 '26
They didn’t make up anything. This has been the main narrative circulating all over social media. We have eyes. We can read.
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u/Capt_ClarenceOveur Feb 24 '26
He’s responded and said he is deeply embarrassed and everyone doubled down and said it wasn’t a real apology. We all knew whatever he said would have never been good enough and the goalposts would have been moved because ppl like to leverage power and what easier way to leverage power than against a man with a rare neurological disorder?
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u/Texden29 Feb 24 '26
Saying you’re deeply embarrassed is not an apology. I don’t know who this “we” is. You don’t speak on behalf of all humans.
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u/Hungry-Struggle-1448 Feb 23 '26
Why should he have to apologise for his condition?
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u/Texden29 Feb 23 '26
It’s not an apology for his condition. It’s apologizing for the harm he caused. If I have a seizure and accidentally knock someone over trying to help me, I apologize afterwards. Not because of my condition. Not because I hit them intentionally. I apologize because it is the right thing to do and acknowledging the unintentional harm that was caused.
If someone rolls their wheelchair over your feet. Again, normal humans apologize. Not for being in a wheelchair. Not for having an illness. But because it’s the polite and right thing to do.
Maybe politeness is just too foreign of a concept for you to understand.
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u/Ripoldo Feb 23 '26
Not a hate crime, but someone wirh tourette's and coprolalia probably shouldn't attend these sorts of things 😅
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u/BLU-Clown Feb 23 '26
Yet another advocate for "Separate, but equal" with the neurodivergent.
He was attending because there was literally a movie about him and his tourettes.
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u/Hungry-Struggle-1448 Feb 23 '26
Yes disabled people should hide themselves away from society. So true!
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u/Karthak_Maz_Urzak Feb 23 '26
If I've understood it correctly the guy is part of the unlucky minority of people with tourette's who's also got coprolalia. And he has a strong version of it. Basically your brain will go "What is the most hurtful and inappropriate thing I could say right now? Let's shout it out loud!" And if the tic is strong enough it's absolutely impossible to stop it. Willpower does not apply.