Alan Cumming Surprised by Worldwide Reaction to Returning OBE Honor: “I Kind of Broke the Internet”

Alan Cumming made headlines this week when he announced on his Instagram that he had returned his Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire — and the reaction surprised even the star himself.

“I didn’t quite expect it to have such an international — I kind of broke the internet yesterday,” Cumming told The Hollywood Reporter at Saturday’s AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, where he served as host. “I knew there would be a little bit about it obviously but not that much. It was kind of nuts. In Scotland, I was on the cover of all of these newspapers today.”

Cumming was awarded the honor in 2009 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors list for his activism work in the LGBTQ+ community, and wrote on social media that “the Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes.” He added that LGBTQ+ laws have improved in the 14 years since it was given, and “the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire).”

Expanding on why it was important for him to return the award, Cumming said it was “mostly just an assessment of how I felt about the idea of empire and people who have suffered at the hands of it. It outweighed the good that it gave me when I got it,” though still acknowledging his gratitude for having received it. He also said it proved one of the benefits of social media, as he could make the announcement on his own terms.

“I did it a few months ago and I thought, I should really put it out there myself before someone finds out and it becomes weird,” Cumming continued. “So that’s what I did. I claimed my voice.”