After activist John Davidson, who lives with Tourette syndrome, involuntarily shouted a racial slur at actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo during the BAFTA film awards, Rena Zito, associate professor of sociology, discussed the condition on CBC Listen's "Just Asking" program.
Rena Zito, associate professor of sociology, discussed Tourette syndrome, both living with the condition and the recent incident at the BAFTA film awards, on CBC Listen’s “Just Asking” program on Feb. 28, 2026.
At the BAFTA film awards in London on Feb. 22, 2026, John Davidson, whose life inspired the award-winning biopic “I Swear,” involuntarily shouted a racial slur during Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo’s speech. The incident has inspired intense conversation around Tourette syndrome and its symptoms.
Zito says it’s important for people to understand that vocal tics do not signify someone’s internal thoughts and feelings. She says the vocal tic often ends up being the opposite of what someone might say or do.
“It can be really hard for people without Tourette syndrome to wrap their head around saying words that you neither intend nor mean,” said Zito on “Just Asking.” “When it comes to things like simple motor tics like shoulder shrugging or hard blinking, people who don’t have Tourettes, they’ve experienced hiccups, they’ve experienced muscle twitches, so they can really wrap their heads around these kinds of tics, but they don’t really have a comparable frame of reference for those intense vocal tics. They’re not used to having no control over the words that come out of their mouths when they’re sober.”
Zito also wrote about the condition in a piece for “The Conversation,” and noted that tics can sometimes be “situationally relevant.”
“There are different ways the environment can matter,” said Zito. “One way it can matter is through stress. Any kind of stress, whether it’s positive or negative, can really exacerbate tics or cause tics to emerge. Sometimes you see something in the environment, you see a person, you see something, you hear something and that can set off a tic.”