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.
Jamie Foxx has weighed in, and I think it’s only a matter of time before other celebrities offer their takes.
Curiously, the BAFTAs took place two hours before they were broadcast on the BBC, so the network had ample time to tweak what the general public saw—and plenty of things were edited out. Akinola Davies Jr., who won the “outstanding debut” award, ended his speech with, “For Nigeria, for London, the Congo, Sudan. Free Palestine.” Guess which phrase was edited out of the broadcast? And the BBC also nixed a line from Cummings comparing the plot of Zootopia 2—”Lies, corrupt leaders, poisoning and persecution of a race”—to the contemporary United States. So thanks, BBC, for causing further offense to countless people and prompting deeply insensitive and uninformed discourse about mental illness. Really, top notch.
I hate to be earnest in our daily gossip column, but the whole situation is just so sad. The incident overshadowed Aramayo’s exciting upset win; Jordan and Lindo’s movie (Sinners) winning a bunch of awards; and the general excitement of an Oscars where it looks like a lot of races could be anybody’s game (except best actress and best director. Jessie Buckley and Paul Thomas Anderson both won again last night).
Anyway, in conclusion, watch TikTokker sh4ysgrwm on the subject.
- I do not watch Traitors, but I’m here for this Lisa Rinna/Colton Underwood beef. [Variety]
- Semi-regular reminder that Millie Bobby Brown, who just turned 22, has an adopted daughter. [Instagram]
- Prince William is not in “a calm state…at the moment.” Huh, anything going on with his family that might be stressing him out? [Page Six]
- Hannah Montana is back. [DeuxMoi]
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