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THREAD
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On the BAFTAs
I understand that years of media conditioning have trained us to reach for polarised, black and white opinions, but what happened at the BAFTAs is not well served by outrage or by denial. I remind you that two things can be true at once.
@kristiedegaris best summary I have read.
@knowprose I have seen so many phenomenally shit takes. Incredibly depressing actually.
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A racial slur was shouted at two Black presenters in a public, professional space by a man who has Tourette’s. It is important to state unequivocally that coprolalia is involuntary. It has nothing at all to do with beliefs, character, or morality. Being publicly accused of racism for a neurological symptom is one of the deepest fears many people with Tourette’s carry..
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However, there is harm to the Black presenters too, and that harm is immediate and bodily. It does not disappear entirely simply because intent was absent. Hearing that word directed into a room you are standing in carries a weight that explanation cannot undo.
The presenter did attempt to contextualise the moment. He acknowledged Tourette’s, emphasised inclusion, and asked for understanding. That mattered, but it was not enough.
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What was missing was an explicit acknowledgement of harm. Not an apology on behalf of the man with Tourette’s, nor a condemnation of his behaviour, or a demand for forgiveness, but a clear statement that hearing racial slurs causes harm regardless of intent, and that this harm was recognised by the institution, BAFTA.
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To be clear, acknowledging harm does not require exclusion, punishment, or blame directed at an individual with a neurological condition. It requires institutions to accept responsibility for the environments they create and the risks they knowingly manage. This was not an inevitable clash of identities, nor was it the ;final boss of intersectionality’ as someone online suggested. It was something common and recognisable, a failure of institutional care.
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This matters even more given that the broadcast was not live, but on a two hour delay. There was time to pause, to edit, to frame, and to take responsibility before the moment reached millions of viewers. While editing could not undo the harm already experienced in the room, it could have prevented its amplification and its misinterpretation. Choosing not to intervene was still a choice.
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In this case, the burden was quietly shifted. Black presenters were expected to absorb the impact with grace, which is a familiar pattern in institutional racism. A disabled man was left exposed to extreme public moral judgement. Meanwhile the institution that had time, power, and editorial control remained largely invisible.
