SNL Responds to BAFTAs’ Racial Slur with a Tourette’s Sketch Featuring J.K. Rowling, Jill Zarin, Armie Hammer, and Ye
NBC’s Saturday Night Live addressed a significant controversy from the past week regarding the BAFTA Film Awards. The incident involved Tourette’s advocate John Davidson, who inadvertently shouted a racial slur during the event, which sparked widespread reactions.
In a sketch titled “Tourette’s,” which did not make it to the final broadcast, a group of celebrities—including J.K. Rowling, Mel Gibson, The Real Housewives of New York star Jill Zarin, Armie Hammer, Louis C.K., Bill Cosby, and Ye—claimed to be affected by Tourette’s, suggesting it explained their controversial remarks or behaviors.
For instance, Zarin, portrayed by Sarah Sherman, humorously stated, “I suffer from severe longwinded monologue-style Tourette’s, a condition that affects nine out of 10 people on Long Island.”
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Hammer, played by the episode’s host Connor Storrie, added, “Not many people know this, but one of the most common side effects of Tourette’s is cannibalism.”
The sketch referenced the BAFTA situation and humorously noted that it was “brought to you by National Workforce of Rethinking Disabilities, or N.W.O.R.D.”
During the BAFTA ceremony, Davidson shouted the N-word at presenters Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan, along with other inappropriate comments. Host Alan Cumming later apologized for the “strong language,” attributing it to “involuntary verbal tics.” The racial slur was ultimately included in the BBC’s tape-delayed broadcast of the event.
