Alan Cumming has finally spoken out about the Tourette’s incident that happened at the 2026 BAFTA Awards.
During the award ceremony in London on Sunday, February 22, Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were on stage when a Tourette’s campaigner blurted out a racial slur, which was broadcast on BBC without editing.
Cumming, who hosted the show, issued an apology to Black people and people battling with Tourette’s across the globe.
He went on to apologize to the audience as they attended the ceremony, expecting “an evening celebrating creativity” but they received “a trauma triggering sh*tshow.”
The Traitors star said, “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.”
What we can learn from his fiasco is 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,” he urged.
“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,” Cumming concluded.