This past weekend was busy – there was a new Saturday Night Live episode, plus the NAACP Image Awards and the SAG Awards happened on consecutive nights. Hanging over all three of those events was what happened at the BAFTAs two Sundays ago, when John Davidson, a man with Tourette’s, loudly ticced during the show. Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo and Hannah Beachler were called the n-word in front of their colleagues and peers, and BAFTA and the BBC are still pointing fingers and trying to dodge accountability for their many f–kups. Well, American comedians did what they do best: tried to find a way to joke about the BAFTA fiasco. This was a skit on Saturday Night Live:
I thought this joke was fine, funny and perhaps even low-hanging fruit. That’s been the unspoken fear of a lot of people since the BAFTA fiasco – that Tourette’s would be “used” as an excuse whenever a celebrity f–ked up and said something racist or offensive. People were literally making Morgan Wallen jokes hours after the BAFTAs (Wallen also screamed the n-word, but does not have Tourette’s). The “joke” isn’t “hahaha, lets bully people with Tourette’s.” The joke is: people who do not have Tourette’s will now claim to have it when they f–k up. Well, this went over poorly with Tourette’s activists, who suddenly understand the concept of “impact” after refusing to acknowledge it during any and all conversations about what happened at the BAFTAs.
Saturday Night Live‘s send-up of the BAFTA racial slur incident has proved to be no laughing matter for a leading Tourette’s syndrome charity. In a statement shared with Deadline, Tourettes Action, which has supported campaigner John Davidson and the film I Swear since its release last year, decried SNL‘s intervention.
In the PSA-style skit titled ‘Tourette’s,’ a host of celebrities, including J.K. Rowling, Mel Gibson, Armie Hammer, Louis C.K., and Bill Cosby claim they suffer from Tourette’s, which would explain problematic comments or actions they have been involved in.
“I’m Mel Gibson, and as I probably should have pointed out decades ago, I too, suffer from Tourette’s, which explains a lot of the things I’ve said or yelled through the years,” said the Braveheart star, portrayed by Andrew Dismukes.
Tourettes Action CEO Emma McNally was unambiguous in her thoughts on SNL, turning on capslock in her email to Deadline: “THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.”
She continued: “Mocking a disability is never acceptable. It would not be tolerated for any other condition, and it should not be tolerated by people with Tourette’s. Tourette’s is a complex neurological condition, of which there is no cure. It is not a joke. It is not a personality trait. It is not a source of entertainment. It is a condition that can be extremely debilitating, causing pain isolation and huge amounts of discrimination. Videos and posts that deliberately misrepresent or sensationalise tics set us back years. A single video can undo the progress our community has spent years building toward greater awareness.”
McNally continued: “The trolling and harassment members of our community have endured in the past few days has been horrific. People have been targeted with threats and humiliation simply for having a condition they did not choose. No one should ever be treated that way.”
NAACP Image Awards host Deon Cole has also been slammed for his joke about Davidson over the weekend. Leading the NAACP audience in mock prayer, he said: “If there are any white men out here in the audience, Lord, with Tourette’s. I advise you to tell them they’d better read the room tonight, Lord … Whatever medicine they on, they better double up on it.”
Watch the SNL skit again – do you consider that mocking the disability, or are they mocking the celebrities who have been caught out doing racist, predatory and/or cannibal bullsh-t? To me, it’s mocking Mel Gibson, Jill Zarin, Bill Cosby and Armie Hammer. What’s more, I’m absolutely certain that the INTENTION of SNL’s writers was to make fun of those terrible celebrities. When John Davidson ticced the n-word at Delroy Lindo, Michael B. Jordan and Hannah Beachler, these same “Tourette’s experts” insisted that intent was all that mattered. In essence, if Davidson had no intent to utter racist slurs, then no one could feel the impact of his words and no apologies were owed. SNL’s intent was to send up terrible racists, cannibals and Bill Cosby, therefore no one from the Tourette’s community should feel the impact of the skit and no apologies are owed. See how that works? Instead, we’ve got a bunch of British people screaming at Americans that “impact” is only for white people.
Here’s the “joke” from the Image Awards. Again, the intent is different when you consider that this was literally an awards show for and by the Black community. Just a general note for nosy British people: stay out of Black folks’ business.
Deon Cole: “If there are any white men in the room with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them to read the room, lord. It might not go the way they thinketh.” pic.twitter.com/5lzzrdOKED
— IG: olesoul57.2
5/12 (@olesoul57_2) March 1, 2026
Screencap courtesy of SNL.
