British comedian Alan Cumming announced on Friday that he had returned the decoration he had been awarded in 2009, denouncing in particular the “toxicity of the British empire”.
This position of the actor provides a new stone in the construction of the vast ongoing reflection on the colonial past of the British Empire and its misdeeds, which extends into many fields.
In a post posted on Instagram on Friday, he recalls that he had been awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his work as an actor and his fight for the rights of LGBT people in the United States. , where he lives most of the time and where he took until 2015 to legalize gay marriage nationwide.
But “the death of Queen” Elizabeth II in September and “discussions about the role of the monarchy and, in particular, how the British Empire benefited from indigenous peoples (and their deaths) around the world really opened their minds.” eyes,” the comedian wrote.
A “toxic” empire
“Times and laws have changed in the United States” and the benefits that his award “brought to the LGBTQ+ cause in 2009” are now “less powerful than my fears of being associated with the toxicity of empire,” he says.
Thus, he indicates that he returned his prize, explained his reasons and reiterated his “great thanks” for having received it, wishing himself a happy birthday on his 58th birthday.
At the end of last year, Welsh actor Michael Sheen returned the same decoration, protesting the awarding of the title of Prince of Wales to the heir to the British crown, in this case Prince William after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1969, Beatles member John Lennon returned his MBE in protest of British involvement in the Nigerian Civil War and their support of the Americans in the Vietnam War.
Source: BFM TV
