Alan Cumming, the actor and host of the US Traitors, announced he was returning his OBE, and Piers Morgan reacted angrily.
After Alan Cumming announced this week that he had returned his OBE, Piers Morgan launched a harsh attack against the actor.
The Scottish actor said he was resigning due to his “misgivings about the toxicity of the empire” and was giving up the coveted award he earned at Buckingham Palace in 2009.
“I gave my award back, gave my justifications, and expressed my sincere gratitude for receiving it in the first place. I’ve reverted to my previous self, Alan Cumming, “The host of US Traitors told viewers.
Outspoken TV anchor Piers Morgan, who has called Cumming, 58, a “attention-seeker,” was displeased by the action.
Cumming gave supporters an explanation of his reasoning earlier this week, saying that the passing of the Queen had caused him to reevaluate his position.
For his contributions to the arts and his activism on behalf of LGBT+ people, he received the Order of the British Empire title. Despite being “extremely happy to be British, and galvanized as an American,” Cumming claimed he could no longer bear the honor.
He stated on Instagram, “The Queen’s passing and the talks that followed regarding the role of monarchy, in particular how the British empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples around the world, really opened my eyes.”
The wonderful good the honor brought to the LGBTQ+ movement back in 2009 is now less potent than the concerns I have being identified with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire), because to the changing of times and legislation in the US.
Not for the first time, a celebrity has returned a civil service award.
In December 2020, fellow actor Michael Sheen returned his honor.
Sheen claimed that he had returned his OBE because he had done significant research on Welsh history and felt it would be “hypocritical” to disregard what he had discovered.
“Well, I have a choice: I either don’t deliver this lecture and hold on to my OBE or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back,” he recalled thinking as he sat there.
Jon Snow, a former newscaster for Channel 4, declined an OBE in 2000 as well.
Snow declared that he didn’t think the Royal Family should bestow honors on journalists.
He then produced a documentary in 2002 called Secrets of the Honours System with the intention of exposing those who have bought their way into positions of authority in order to acquire an honor.
John Lennon, a member of the Beatles, also resigned from his MBE in 1965. He did so by writing to the Queen and protesting Britain’s role in the Nigeria-Biafra issue.
