Alan Cumming hits back at ‘lump of ignorance’ Piers Morgan for criticism over OBE return
Actor and ‘Traitors US’ host elaborated on decision to hand back honour
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Your support makes all the difference.Alan Cumming has hit back at Piers Morgan after the TV host called him “pathetic” and “attention-seeking” for returning his OBE.
The Scottish actor, who was handed the title as part of the Queen’s birthday honours in 2009, revealed on Friday (27 January) that he recently returned the award.
Morgan addressed Cumming’s decision shortly after, writing on Twitter: “What a pathetic, disingenuous, disloyal, attention-seeking little twerp.”
Now, while being asked about the response on SiriusXM Progress radio, Cumming said Morgan’s tweet has made him even more certain of his decision.
“I think if you’re pissing off Piers Morgan, you’re on the right track,” he said, adding: “I think that lump of ignorance – if I’m pissing him off, I’m doing the right thing.”
Cumming, who has US as well as British citizenship, said that while receiving the OBE for services to the arts and LGBTQ+ activism made him “very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American”, recent public conversations regarding the monarchy and British Empire have changed his perception.
Elaborating upon his decision on the radio station, Cumming said he made the “complex” announcement when he did in order to “control the narrative”.
“For me, it was about the empire, and over the years and especially recently, I have been more educated about some of the stuff that happened with the British empire and indigenous peoples being abused and killed and remembering all that, and realising perhaps the good that the award did for me and the LGBT cause in 2009 was less needed now,” he said.
“Because we have got, thankfully for now, anyway, the rights that we were fighting for.”
He said it became “untenable” for him to keep the OBE due to his “misgivings about being assocuiated with thie idea of empire”.
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Morgan has since reacted to Cumming’s words, calling his “explanation” of the oBE return “comically disingenious”.
Cumming can currently be seen presenting The Traitors US, which is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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