Tourette Syndrome at the Bafta Awards

He was there because of a film about tourettes that was made about him to raise awareness of tourettes so absolutely he should have been there. People with tourettes should not be hidden away or excluded because of a challenging condition they cannot help.

Absolutely it is difficult for someone with a protected characteristic like race to hear a slur like that but it cannot be helped by that individual and it's so important that that is understood. People with tourettes can be separated from any person who might ever be offended by one of their ticks.

The part that could have been handled better was the apology. One, there should have been a statement directed to the presenters rather than just the audience but two, it should have been a statement of explanation and education, not just a brushed over sorry if anyone was offended. 

Yes - I agree. The guy with Tourette’s must be feeling mortified by this situation. The BBC could have edited out the sound of the racial slur before transmission to reduce offence to the viewers of the programme. Earlier in the transmission when I was watching I heard a shout and realised it was likely someone with Tourette’s connected to the film ‘I swear’ - it’s a common aspect of Tourette’s to shout offensive words - and presumably the presence of this film must have meant people in the auditorium must have realised it was someone with Tourette’s that shouted. We need to be understanding - this is not intentional and not in the persons control. It’s the BBC who could have reduced the offence. They edited out an award winner saying ‘Free Palestine’ - so how come they didn’t edit this offensive word out?! 

Well absolutely. Why edit out free Palestine but keep that in? 

It is damaging for the tourettes community to allow this situation to blow up the way it has. I don't know whether I think it should have been edited out or not, it is a reality of tourettes. But if you are going to leave it in then you absolutely have to educate the audience and viewers. He's been thrown on a public stage in a really negative way when he just tries to advocate and raise awareness of tourettes.

Yes. Surely the whole point of raised awareness about Tourette’s is that we don’t ’make a fuss’ but just have understanding and acceptance of something that from someone else we would rightly find objectionable. At the same time I can understand why it was extremely uncomfortable for the presenters and audience to hear that word in that situation. It’s surely all about context and understanding - for example Little Simz was at that event and in her  music she uses the same word and that’s considered acceptable. So I would argue that if someone with Tourette’s uses an offensive word we view it differently because we know they have Tourette’s. Surely the point of raised awareness about conditions such as Tourette’s is acceptance, understanding and non judgement. The BBC putting this on the news as a huge deal is attaching shame and judgement to what happened? Most of all I feel sorry for the guy with Tourette’s as this amount of attention must be stressful - but maybe in the long term it will increase understanding hopefully if people really give a lot of thought to this. As for the BBC editing out ‘Free Palestine’ - now that IS offensive. That’s censorship and preventing someone who is winning an important award from having the right to express his strongly held view about a genocide and racist/religious oppression. Just appalling. 

Obviously the people in the audience would of heard it, but if it had been editied out, would we be having this discussion? Maybe we'd be having a different one and I understand the audience were told before hand about Tourettes.

TheCatWoman said:

I agree why didn't the BBC edit this out? If they had would we even be having this discussion?

We would because of the people who were in the audience and on the stage at the time.

It couldn't be edited out for those who heard it live.

I think that more preparation would have gone a long way ie talking to them first although I don't actually know if anything of this sort was done beforehand.

I agree why didn't the BBC edit this out? If they had would we even be having this discussion?

I agree why didn't the BBC edit this out? If they had would we even be having this discussion?

Obviously the people in the audience would of heard it, but if it had been editied out, would we be having this discussion? Maybe we'd be having a different one and I understand the audience were told before hand about Tourettes.

TheCatWoman said:

I agree why didn't the BBC edit this out? If they had would we even be having this discussion?

We would because of the people who were in the audience and on the stage at the time.

It couldn't be edited out for those who heard it live.

I think that more preparation would have gone a long way ie talking to them first although I don't actually know if anything of this sort was done beforehand.