John Davidson’s charity group has slammed Saturday Night Live’s ‘unacceptable’ sketch about Tourette’s.
On Sunday February 22, the Tourette’s campaigner was heard shouting the N-word at Michael B Jordan and his Sinners co-star Delroy Lindo as they presented the first award of the night at the Baftas.
After facing backlash for not cutting the moment from the live broadcast, the BBC removed the entire awards ceremony from iPlayer.
A day later, Davidson then spoke out, saying he feels ‘deeply mortified if anyone considers [his] involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.’
Now, however, American comedy sketch show SNL has caused further controversy for ‘mocking’ the Tourette’s disability.
Despite being cut for time on the episode, which aired on February 28, the sketch was shared on YouTube where it has received more than 1million views.
Featuring Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie, who was making his debut as SNL host, the sketch included a variety of parodied performances of controversial celebrities, from Mel Gibson to Bill Cosby, Armie Hammer and J.K. Rowling.
As the SNL cast impersonated the celebrities, each explained how they had said or done something controversial because of the Tourette’s syndrome.
Andrew Dismukes, who was pretending to be Gibson, for example, said: ‘I too suffer from Tourette’s, which explains a lot of the things I’ve said or yelled through the years.
‘Am I proud of what I said? No. But I am very proud for you to know that it was because of Tourette’s. Unfortunately, I’m not alone.’
James Austin Johnson, playing comedian Louis C.K who in 2017 admitted to several incidents of sexual misconduct, also said: ‘Tourette’s sucks, especially if you get it in your penis.’
Asked about the sketch, Tourette’s Action CEO Emma McNally, who has a longstanding relationship with Davidson and was involved in the production of I Swear, told Variety: ‘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.’
She continued: ‘Over recent weeks, our community has faced an unprecedented wave of online trolling, misinformation, and targeted mockery. Following the extremely difficult events surrounding the Baftas, many people with Tourette’s have been struggling with fear, shame, isolation and a HUGE need to defend a condition they cannot control.
‘We had hoped this would be a new week and we could move on but the release of further content online that has been designed to ridicule Tourette’s and reduce our community to a punchline has only deepened that hurt.
‘I want to be completely clear here THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
‘Videos and posts that deliberately misrepresent or sensationalise tics set us back years… The trolling and harassment members of our community have endured in the past few days has been horrific.’
This comes after Robert Aramayo, who won the Bafta for best actor after portraying Davidson in the biographical film I Swear, called on society to ‘have grace’ towards the ‘complex’ and ‘really misunderstood’ syndrome.
The 33-year-old actor told Metro and other outlets in the winners’ press room: ‘I’m just really happy that I Swear has shone a spotlight on something that is really, really misunderstood.
‘I think that there’s still a lot more education needed around Tourette’s and what it actually is and how we all, as a society, can help.’
As explained by the NHS, Tourette’s is a condition that causes people to make sudden, repetitive sounds or movements, known as tics, with Davidson’s symptoms involving outbursts including swearing.
Metro has contacted Tourette’s Action and NBC for comment.
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