Benedict Cumberbatch apologises after calling black actors 'coloured'

[Nye Bevan]

Benedict Cumberbatch has apologised after referring to black actors as “coloured” during an interview on US television, saying he is “devastated” to have caused offence.

The Sherlock actor said he was “an idiot” after he used the phrase during a debate, ironically about the diversity problems that black British actors face in the UK compared to the US, which he argued has been more open to casting them.

Talking on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS, Cumberbatch said: “I think as far as coloured actors go, it gets really different in the UK, and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here (in America) than in the UK, and that’s something that needs to change.”

.......


In a statement Cumberbatch said: “I’m devastated to have caused offence by using this outmoded terminology. I offer my sincere apologies. I make no excuse for my being an idiot and know the damage is done.”

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jan/26/benedict-cumberbatch-apologises-after-calling-black-actors-coloured

[Brickbat]

1. Now that's an apology.

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. Benedict Cumberbatch? Didn't his agent forget to tell him it may be a good idea to choose a

different stage name?

[shenmue]

4. He used to go by his father's last name, Carlton

He said in an interview something like, Carlton was his father's stage name, and he used that for a while, but for some reason he got more calls for roles when he went back to Cumberbatch. I guess actors' guilds are kinda the same everywhere. Whatever makes the casting director think you're different.

[Dont call me Shirley]

8. Thanks for the clarification, shenmue.

His name seems pretentious and laced with false superiority.

[Nye Bevan]

5. Do you know what his female fans refer to themselves as?

http://m.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/keira-knightley-calls-benedict-cumberbatchs-cumberbitches-terrifying-20142011

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. That's so special.

More women proudly participating in the degradation of women.

[msanthrope]

3. Bad form. Fulsome apology, however. nt

[Kelvin Mace]

6. Thanks for a genuine apology

They are SO rare.

[HipChick]

9. His family built their wealth from owning slaves

comes as no surprise..

[BlueJazz]

10. "I make no excuse for my being an idiot and know the damage is done.”

Spoken like a real person. I've read stories about him being wonderful to work with...plus, even the crew is quite fond of him.

[AnnieBW]

11. He seems like a really good guy

He just made an unfortunate Britticism to an American TV show. And yes, his family made their money off of the slave trade. He is aware of it, and has tried to make up for it - like many of this generation whose families were involved in slavery in some form or another. I mean, he's playing Alan Turing, for Ghod's sake!

[HipChick]

12. We should not be applying the same American standards to other countries..

“coloured” is used a lot in the UK, especially by older people...not saying it's right or PC - just not the same focus there.. The term is rooted in an offensive, racist history though...

[appalachiablue]

14. He is very aware of the issue of slavery as stated in interviews. His ancestors were sugar barons

in Barbados. Ben had a small role as a religious planter in the recent movie, 'Twelve Years A Slave'. In 2006 as Wm. Pitt the Younger in the film, 'Amazing Grace' he gave an outstanding performance as the youngest British Prime Minister ever elected. The focus was the fight to end the slave trade which Pitt's close friend, MP Wilber Wilberforce, well known British abolitionist pursued and achieved in 1807.

In 1833 the practice of slavery was ended in the British Empire. Caribbean slave owners like Ben's ancestors were compensated by the govt. Most Cumberbatch relatives returned to England; one was an ambassador, others military officers. Ben's parents are Brit. TV actors; the father goes by the family name Carlton. Prominent Harrow School is where Ben was educated due to his grandmother. There are black, white and biracial family members in Barbados, the UK and US. One branch endowed the Cumberbatch Bldg. at the Univ. of Oxford. When asked about his background Ben says he's upper middle class.

[kwassa]

13. It is all about the extra "u" in coloured.

Noah Webster excised those nasty "u"s from his dictionary, and look where we are.

Truth be told, white people get more concerned about proper terminology than black people. Black people are more concerned about bigger issues, in my experience.