Celebrated Scottish actor Alan Cumming (58), known from the series “The Good Wife”, recently returned the royal honor that Queen Elizabeth honored him with in 2009. He no longer wants to be mentioned in the same breath as the British Empire because of past “toxic” misdeeds.
It’s about the way the UK used to treat indigenous peoples in colonies. The empire wanted to grow bigger and more powerful, even if the local population suffered greatly or even died, he writes on Instagram today. Cumming’s award was what is known as an OBE, an acronym usually formally followed by your name. The letters mean ‘Officer of the British Empire‘and from’British Empire‘ he now distances himself.
Cumming, a career winner of a Tony and an Olivier Award, received the award for his work and activism for LGBTI equality in the United States. Homosexual couples could not marry there in 2009 and openly gay or bisexual people could not enlist in the army. A British and American citizen, Cumming fought for emancipation.
“Toxicity of the Empire”
He was grateful and saw his “ribbon” as encouragement, but now sees it differently. “The Queen’s death and the ensuing talks about the role of the monarchy and how it has benefited the British Empire at the expense of indigenous peoples around the world was really eye-opening,” he said.
“Fortunately, times and laws have changed in the US, and the support that was the price of the LGBTI community is now less important than the bad feeling I have about being associated with the UK’s toxicity .”
Exactly how you return a tape isn’t clear, but Cumming says he did. “I turned it in, explained my reasons and reiterated how grateful I am that I got it sooner. I’m just good old Alan Cumming again.” Incidentally, he’s not the first celebrity to return an award; previously, actor Michael Sheen did so so he could speak freely about the royal family.
Alan Cumming is known internationally for a variety of theatre, film and television work, including his roles in the Bond film GoldenEye, the Spy Kids films, the series The Good Wife and Instinct and currently as Host the US version of ‘The Traitors’.
Source : HLN
