I Beetlejuice’d Benedict Cumberbatch, I think. Earlier today, I said I hoped for a full-fledged promotional tour from Bendy, the likes of which we haven’t seen in two years. And now here he is on the cover of the November issue of Vanity Fair. VF went to the way-back machine for this cover shot, right? This looks like Benedict circa 2011. I will say that I enjoy the “Teen Beat” vibe of the cover shot though – he’s so dreamy, in a total alien-otter way. His hair looks great here. Anyway, you can read VF’s cover story here, they put the whole thing online. Much of it is about how he’s the Internet’s Boyfriend, although I think VF is about three years too late on that one? Some highlights:
He didn’t get any sleep before the interview: “It’s probably, hours-wise, the craziest day’s work, if you can call it a day, I’ve ever, ever done. Fluidity, accuracy, intelligence, humor—all these things might be very odd today. I don’t really know who I am.”
On his crazy Cumberbitches: “I’m glad I’m bringing a ray of sunshine to an otherwise dull day, being imagined eating fritters shirtless. But, I don’t know, it makes me giggle. I don’t look at myself in the mirror and go, ‘Yeah, absolutely! I see what they’re saying!’ I see all my faults and everything that I’ve always seen as my faults.”
His marriage to Sophie, and his son Christopher (nicknamed Kit): “There are people who believe that my wife is a P.R. stunt and my child is a P.R. stunt. I think really it’s to do with the idea that the ‘Internet’s boyfriend’ can’t actually belong to anyone else but the Internet. It’s impossible he belongs to anyone but me. And that’s what stalking is. That’s what obsessive, deluded, really scary behavior is.”
His near-death experience in 2004: “I was definitely more impatient to live a life less ordinary. I wanted to swim in the sea that I saw the next morning. If you feel you’re going to die, you don’t think you’re going to have all those sensations again—a cold beer, a cigarette, the feel of sun on your skin. All those hit you as firsts again. It is, in a way, a new beginning. But we were on our way back from the first weekend of a scuba-diving training course, so it wasn’t as if I was insular before that. I think it just made me run at it a bit more recklessly.”
His next adventure: “It’s a sappy answer, but the truth is I want to seek some thrills at home.” He met Hunter almost two decades ago, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but it took them years to get together. After a courtship that they miraculously managed to keep out of the tabloids, they married Valentine’s Day 2015 on the Isle of Wight. Hunter was pregnant with Kit, who was born that June, two weeks before Cumberbatch began rehearsals for Hamlet. He has since given up motorbiking, to say nothing of jumping out of airplanes. “Having a baby—it’s massive,” he says. “And on a very unexpected level. Suddenly I understood my parents much more profoundly than I ever had before.” Fatherhood gave him counter-intuitive insight into the most challenging role in the theatrical canon. “I was expecting, with Hamlet, that it might be a hindrance to be a father, because it’s all about being a son. But it’s the opposite. You understand much more about being a son, becoming a father.”
“There are people who believe that my wife is a P.R. stunt and my child is a P.R. stunt.” More than that, actually. There are people who believe that Sophie was never pregnant, that Kit is a stunt baby and more. There is a level of delusion and creepiness around the Cumberfandom, although I’ll say one thing in defense of some of the fans: the whole fiancée rollout was shady as hell. For real. I think even Benedict knows that now? As for the rest of it… Kit Cumberbatch is an adorable name for a baby.
Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair.
His hair looks very shiny and luxurious. But that color is a no. (Is that for a role?)
I think that color was for Doctor Strange.
These pictures are just tacky. lol
Posing like a teen pop star is quite a departure from his recent Mr Serious Actor Man image.
Some major photoshop work here too.
He’s clearly taken inspiration from the Tiddlesbanging of the summer of ’16. He and Tom are 2 of the most thirstiest Brit actors in a long time – both are infatuated with being super famous.
at least it equals to the level of ridiculous poses that are asked to female stars. that’s something… I guess…for some reason I see it as a step further? a sad step further….
I think you’ve hit on something here.
The bicep bulge on his right arm looks, er, enhanced… especially when compared with the left, which looks pretty squishy despite being partially flexed.
Who told him to pose like that.
I know, it’s so ridiculous, try-hard, and age-inappropriate.
I did! LOL
You’re fired. :p
I imagine it was whoever was in charge of the shoot. They also made him 20 years younger. Just like somebody said- now the men are expected to do the same things women have been doing. We are moving towards the equality of genders, backwards.
The second picture automatically reminded me of Kate Winslet’s famous necklace scene in ‘Titanic’.
“Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls…”
LOL!
Am I the only one who thinks that’s worded in a funny way? “My wife is a PR stunt.” Like, she’s not a human, just a hologram. Yo, PB&J Otter, I thought you didn’t like to address people’s claims about people’s personal business in public interviews?
just you.
Lol
He’s the one who keeps shoehorning it. I don’t get it. If he didn’t keep shoehorning it all the time, acting like he constantly needs to prove something, people wouldn’t question him.
@DSA “shoehorning” is a code word used by the crowd that really thinks a British actor either bribed or fooled a Church of England vicar with a staged marriage, got the Portland Hospital to go along with the birth and then registration of a nonexistent child, not to mention the British government, etc., etc., etc.
If he doesn’t mention them, he’s “distancing”, and if he does mention them, he’s “shoehorning” and no matter what language he uses, it’s “suspect”.
He and Sophie will be attending that boy’s graduation from Oxford one day and you’ll still be there saying, “Isn’t it strange they managed to be photographed together at their son’s graduation??!!”
He isn’t “shoehorning”. He’s referring openly to something many of us have watched blossom on those blogs with utter horror – assumptions and a level of obsession about the lives of people you haven’t met life that indicate pathology.
The only people “questioning” him are the crazies on Tumblr.
What now?
@Lambda: Gas-lighting?
I’m confused, who’s doing the gaslighting? Is it Cumberbatch by calling the creeps crazy? I’m no doctor, but with some of those it’s more than personality problems.
He’s the type who can’t let go of an argument. He can’t follow the precept of living a good life and ignore critics. He always has to answer back and have the last word. 🙂
I feel sorry for his wife though, who probably is flying under the radar to avoid being insulted at every turn by his so-called fans.
@seesittellsit Ohhhh, trust me, it’s not just Tumblr. I’m not even on that site and I get to read tons of the same. I’m not sure how much crossover there is in the groups, but two of the much older websites I’m on picked up on the supposed fishiness early last year already.
@seesittellsit
*Slow Clap* Yes, to everything.
Please, it’s just a handful of obsessed fans with erotomania posting under dozens of different names and creating dozens of different blogs.
They cannot accept their Internet Boyfriend being married to someone else, in love with someone else, having a baby with someone else, so they invent elaborate conspiracy theories where literally every single thing he or his wife do can be twisted into proof.
They are very lucky not to have been sued or arrested yes. Nasty, vile loons.
uhm that is not stalking. Stalking is a terrible thing that takes place in real life, not on gossip pages.
Wasn’t there a crazy fan that stalked his house and left ribbons on the gate?
Sorry but nope. They tracked Swift’s plane and can follow her around online. You think that’s not a form of stalking? There are many clues as to where some celebrities, who are often on social media for example, are and it’s possible to stalk them this was and then physically start stalking them. One can lead to the another.
Artemis, I agree I think the only difference is proximity (I think the girls stalking Swifts house in RI were worse).
Whether you agree with it or not any plane (except military) can be tracked
as the flight plans all have to be logged. There’s plane geeks who are onto that sort of thing.
it is stalking though, have you ever been on any of the anti-benedict’s wife tumblrs? i guess not.
That is not “stalking” as they do not interact or harass him directly, stalking is being followed to a film festival (he found out where I was going to be based on me asking the official account’s schedule, and literally found him sitting at my regular spot and dressed like me). Then when I ignored him, he abruptly got up (violently, made a scene in the middle of screening). Then I was afraid of walking home alone because he’s catch my on my way home to my apartment, I felt physically threatened. That is stalking. People talking about you on Tumblr is nothing near as scary as that.
@ell – This . . . the pathology on display really should be the basis of someone’s PhD thesis.
it’s stalking when people physically follow his wife and post pics of her. come on, it’s disrespectful behaviour and a form of cyber stalking. and look, i don’t even like him. i find him full of it and pretentious, so it’s not like i’m here stanning by his side.
It’s stalking – following every move, going to their neighborhood and places of work (or encouraging others to do so) to wander the streets, find their house/offices, check through the mail and the rubbish, leaving notes/ribbons, whatnot on his car, planning to track him down at work events (premieres, stage door, filming sets, conventions) to publicly confront him for what they perceive as troublesome behavior (his or his wife’s) or talk some sense into him (whatever that means), using false credentials/claims to reach him by telephone or to arrange access to promotional events to get close to him (and do who knows what), hounding his and her co-workers, friends, business associates, anyone who mentions having any dealings with him (or even someone who goes for a night out with *their* wife, who happens to have a similar build and hairstyle as Cumberbatch’s wife), scouring public records and hounding officials (of churches, birth registries, newspapers) for every scrap of information about wife and child to prove their crazy theories.
And this is just the stuff some of these hateful obsessed weirdos have freely admitted to on their own blogs. Who knows what he has dealt with privately from some of these lunatics.
There is indeed such a thing as “cyberstalking”. And for some unhinged people, it starts there and then they pick up the trail physically.
Yeah, I have been legit stalked at a film festival, and I was too scared to walk home alone because I thought he was going to hurt me because I ignored him. That is stalking.
I agree. Just turn off your computer and the stalking is over. Not really the same as having someone following you around is it? 🙂
By his standards and definition, maybe he’s stalking certain Tumblr users himself.
@DSA Yep, apparently you are right
@Nicole: As I said, just switch off you computer and go for a walk. End of the stalking. Real life stalking it ain’t. 🙂
Sorry, but it is stalking. All you have to do is visit one of their blogs. They follow his wife’s every move. They know where she was (for example) the spring of 2008. Being followed one day at a film festival doesn’t compare to what has happened to this woman. They scour the net for all her work, mentions, and videos, just so they can accuse her doing something bad. And they do it daily.
IMO, their relationship was ‘need to know’. If you didn’t need to know, then you weren’t told until the absolute last moment. Their family was told, but the fans, nope. I don’t know why some fans and apparently this blog owner thinks that since they weren’t in the loop, it means something shady was going on. Or that the particulars found out when they did, and therefore were just as surprised. Jeez.
I mean, think about that for a moment. What if a co-worker shows up one day with a baby bump. You would be surprised, but could you honestly say that SHE was surprised at the same time? Could you say that she was hiding or keeping something from you? Or that because she didn’t tell you beforehand that she was being ‘shady’? The mind boggles at the entitlement.
To add to my other comment: Check out the outcomes of #gamergate for some women. They were stalked and harassed online and shutting down their computer did not work as they found her personal details like address and send threats to their home, their friends and family.
Some had to move out of their own home for months until the chaos died down a bit and then still they had to live with the thought that these crazies could easily track them down and physically hurt them. So this idea that the internet is innocent harassment you can shut down but turning off your computer is naive or willfully obtuse.
@delorb If you visit one of their blogs: well, don’t. I’m sure he’s got plenty of things to do which don’t include tumblr. I have never quite understood the concept of Internet bullying., because if people can’t reach you personally or by phone or other direct means, but only via social media, all you have to do is stop looking surely. As I said, go out for a walk instead. End of the bullying. In his case, why does he care when he’s not even on social media???
It is 100% stalking.
Several of them have posted about visiting his house and his workplace, and have posted photos of his house. One skeptic did actually get arrested for visiting his house.
They have also engaged in months and months of 24/7 harassment campaigns against anyone who knows either of them!! Look at Amanda Abington’s Twitter @ feed, there are skeptics who regularly tweet her calling her vile names and threatening her for “not saving Ben from the sham that evil woman is forcing him into.”
And what about the dozens if not hundreds of ordinary members of the public who have been harassed simply for being mistaken for Sophie, or for tweeting about meeting her and Ben? Remember that xoJane article?
Look at
But what a surprise that CB’s resident Skeptic-of-the-many-names is defending them!
@hermia, disillusioned fans to level being described here isn’t something a celeb can simply escape because their activity impacts that celeb’s security. If it includes his wife and kid, they’re being included in that too, so it’s something that can change daily life. But again it depends on what’s happening, I’m going by what is being said here.
@hermia, I agree with you. The only true stalking would involve physical or DIRECT, THREATENING behavior (online, or in person), and law enforcement & security deal with that.
There’s this notion with some commenters, that rooting out every little detail of a celebrity’s life online is STALKING – but only if you have a NEGATIVE opinion of the celeb. “Fans” do it ALL THE TIME. Cumberbatch’s “fans” know every move he makes, save, manipulate & watermark every photo ever taken of him, deliver gifts IN PERSON to people with whom he is associated, gobble up tickets for every event he is schedule at appear at, plan their vacations to lurk at setlock, follow and write simpering emails to his co-stars, abuse, threaten and dox private individuals who criticize him, try to make direct contact w/ him to warn him about the mean people (some doxxed) on the internet, and so much more.
Amanda Abbington HAS gotten some nasty tweets esp. about her Sherlock character – she tells them off and then blocks them. She doesn’t wring her hands about the tweeters being stalkers – just bitches. She chooses to remain on Twitter.
Are there people online who like, or dislike, Cumberbatch, and cross the line of good sense? YES. Do rude or mean posts on Twitter make someone a stalker? NO. Does posting ridiculous theories on tumblr make someone a stalker? NO. Does discussing conspiracy theories on the internet mean that person is definitely crazy and/or dangerous? NO. Are there people online who LIKE, or DISLIKE Cumberbatch, and may pose a danger? MAYBE, but unless they resort to threats, no one can say with any certainty.
If Cumberbatch is being STALKED, it is a police matter. Period. If his wife or child is being STALKED, it is a police matter. Period.
If people are saying things online about him (or his) that he doesn’t like, he best develop a thicker skin, because unfortunately for PUBLIC figures, they can’t (and shouldn’t be able to), control other people’s opinions on the ‘web.
Lol have you BEEN on the internet?! People absolutely stalk celebs online. Some take it to the real life realm but yea people stalk him. And he has a point about him being the “Internet BF” where no gf is good enough and everything is a conspiracy. It’s frightening
What he’s talking about, yes, but he definitely gets stalked. Do you remember Cabin Pressure? I took my dad (amateur pilot and R4 listener) to one of the recordings and we were sat just in front of a group who were discussing all of the events they’d been to see him at and all of the ones they were planning to attend, including abroad. Creepy as hell.
“a group who were discussing all of the events they’d been to see him at and all of the ones they were planning to attend, including abroad” – I believe those folks consider themselves “good fans”. The few I’ve run across who believe his wife and child are fake, while waaay far out there, aren’t the ones who brag about seeing & being wherever he appears.
I’m with Kaiser, “I’ll say one thing in defense of some of the fans: the whole fiancée rollout was shady as hell.” The fans who seem to be generally in that camp, don’t show signs of stalking, They seem to “stay in their lane”, and talk to one another about the continuing PR drama. Is the talk flattering to BC, not generally, but no one is chattering about how many tickets they are buying or to which event they are flying.
He is absolutely stalked. Just last week I saw a video on tumblr of him and his wife going somewhere, taken in secret, obviously. And it is not the first time this happened.
How creepy is it when the subjects are not even aware that they are being videotaped and then the information is posted on the internet?
There was a also big to-do a few months back when somebody who looked like his wife was photographed at a theater, again in secret, and his stans came up with this whole theory that she is cheating of him, and now they refer to it as if it is a fact.
@Sasha, I remember that, but it wasn’t his stans who accused that woman of being Sophie and therefore cheating on him. It was the sceptics who did that. Stans think he never does anything wrong, even when it’s ‘colored’. The sceptics are the opposite in that they think everything he’s been doing since getting engaged is wrong. Not implying that you didn’t know the difference, just thought I’d clear it up for others.
I don’t really keep track of his fandom factions. I mean the whole idea is over the top, a fandom with dedicated warring factions?
But yes, I meant the ones with all the conspiracy theories.
I have witnessed how cray cray his stans are. A few years ago i was at a taping of the Graham Norton show (the one with Harrison Ford) and the number of fans who were hyperventilating at the thought of seeing him in the flesh, it was scary even to listen to them. We had to wait almost 2 hours before they started letting us in and i started to get p!ssed because a) i was tired from standing around and b) at the thought of waiting around for all that time for nothing and missing out on the taping (I love the show) – but others were almost crying at the thought of not getting into see their Alien overlord. When the show ended there was a mass stampede to leave to get to the front of the studio to see the talent exit.
Quite a few of them have posted photos of his house or blog posts about hanging around his neighbourhood and workplace. One of them did get arrested, but there’s plenty of evidence they have engaged in real life stalking.
Besides cyber-stalking is still stalking. They have stalked not only the pair, but all their friends and family, her ex boyfriend and colleagues.
Remember when a “skeptic” took a blurry photo of two random people in the National Theatre and claimed it was Sophie and another man on an illicit date? And then the real couple saw it and spoke up? They were relentlessly stalked and harassed and had their FB accounts reported as fake multiple times. To this day they insist the photo was of Sophie and her lover (because sure she’d take her lover to her husband’s workplace, sure) and that the couple who claimed it was them are fake identities being used by people on Sophie’s team to pretend to be her.
Thank you. He’s trying to equate crazy online talk with stalking, which is a slap in the face to anyone who has ever experienced a stalker.
Is Kit a posh nickname for Christopher, instead of Chris? Because the only other Kit I know is Kit Harington and he’s posh as hell.
The coat he’s wearing in the second picture is amazing. I’d wear that entire outfit.
Christopher Marlowe was known as Kit.
@lightpurple
At the risk of being personal, are you fragrant?
If you are, you know what I’m asking; if not, nevermind.
🙂
@Lina, yes, very much so and spring blooming when not stuck in a filter.
@lightpurple
I have a virtual terrace (I live in NYC, so, that’s the best I can do) that you’re more than welcome to use to host functions.
😉
it’s pretty popular atm in the uk.
Yeah it is, it goes right back to Christopher Marlowe – mid to late 16th English playwright also known as Kit – prevalent among the posh (and probably goes back further than that as well) Like they still call Edward’s ‘Ned’ there are probably loads more but I’m not posh and can’t think of any at the minute.
Edit: yes I can Henry’s are called Harry, hence Prince Harry whose really a Henry. Swear it’s a tribal thing and one way that posh people signal their poshness to other posh people.
I don’t get the Henry/Harry same amount of letters so what’s the point. It’s not shortening a long name Sebastian to Seb. I tried to name my son a name you can’t shorten works so far.
‘AG-UK’ I don’t know there’s much point to it, it’s traditional, even Shakespeare calls Henry V ‘Harry or Hal’ and the habit goes back to the middle ages. “Harry, its English short form, was considered the “spoken form” of Henry in medieval England. Most English kings named Henry were called Harry. “(from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_(given_name)
British Posh people are not necessarily rational like us normal (common) folk and if they’ve been doing it for long enough there’s no reason to stop is there?
I think of it as very English, but not necessarily posh.
Don;t forget Christopher (“Kit”) Smart…..
My Cat is called Kitty I might start calling her Christopher, just to be different and posh.
@ Shelly – that made me LOL 🙂
@Frisbee
Well the Cat’s not impressed, She’s ignoring me.
I actually like Kit better than Chris which is the more usual.
Once upon a time Elizabeth’s got shortened to Betty which is right out of fashion now
I have a cousin Christopher who I called Kit when he was a child. I came upon it when I was baby-talking to him and called him “Kit-opher.” It stuck. We’re so not posh. LOL
That is a great cover. Well done Marvel PR.
He’s hardly the only one to attract the crazies. I’ve become fascinated by it. We also have:
– the Twi-crazies who still believe the two leads married and have 2 or 3 secret children.
– the 50 shades fans who believe the leads are secretly in love and the evil wife is keeping them apart.
– women who fetishize imaginary gay relationships: One Direction, Supernatural.
And more. Small sample, big crazy.
I think one difference is the Cumbercrazies were all over this blog during the Sophie rollout and were definitely saying all the stuff mentioned. That was wild.
G, I remember trying to reason with one of the crazier ones and gave up.
it was both hilarious and terrifying back then. i don’t think i’ve ever seen so much crazy on cb ever.
i didn’t know there are people who think the 50 shades leads are together tbh, they don’t seem all that friendly with each other, cordial yes but most certainly not best mates, so i don’t get it.
Yeah that was wild. Like full-blown conspiracy theories based on essentially nothing.
And everything they accused Cumbers of paled into insignificance beside the I <3 TS tank top and Rhode island rock smoochies.
I remember that there was one post with more than 900 comments.
I just stayed the f*ck away. I *knew* anything I tried to say would be twisted and turned into a bad thing.
And they didn’t seem to like jokes/puns/silly, but harmless comments either.
@Eve: See…I wish I had been smart like you. The reason I read those posts were because of the high comment count. They were in the year end post I think? I hadn’t been following anything about him when it was happening so when I read that 900 comment post it was overwhelming. Needless to say, I don’t think I will be doing that again.
@ G:
When you spot a 300 + comments threads, take a quick look to see if it’s possible to have a civilized argument. If not, just click on the “home” button.
Don’t look back. (I’m being serious about this).
Silly me, I thought the gang here would tear those crazy conspiracy nuts a new one. Imagine my surprise when a lot of the old guard joined in! I thought the people here made fun of ‘stupid’. I’m still upset about that. I expected a ton of funny posts and I didn’t get any.
I remember those threads. Twas scary AF. I was like who all these people and why are they so certain that their opinions are fact?
Also hiiiiiii Eve!
@ I Choose Me:
*WAVES*
P.S.: Titus Pullo just dropped a bomb in the litter box. I can smell it from here. I’m positive his crap can be weaponized.
I miss the crazies, they were hilarious! I used to say nice things about Sophie at times just to see their reaction, they never let me down
The ‘damie’ hashtag on twitter is both creepy and funny, they really are crazy.
What’s really sad about the ‘damie’ loons is that he has two babies with his wife, and yet there are crazy fans who ignore that and drag her through the mud and wish her gone. It’s one thing to “ship” two single actors you’d like to see together for fun, but when families are involved, it’s downright gross.
Risk of popcorn overdose: significant.
You know English is not my first language, so I do no not really get how you have Kit from Christopher. I mean there is crazier nicknames like Dick from Richard but still.
“Dick from Richard” is going to be my new band name.
Re: Cumberbatch, hey at least we are not talking about whitewashing any more.
Teddy from Edward, Peggy from Margaret ??
Betty from Elizabeth?
His quote about his stans is beautiful. More male celebrities should say something about it. Not for themselves but for the people they love as they receive a ton of unnecessary hate that can veer into misogyny and racism a lot of the times (see twigs). They get dragged into the delusions of these stans as collateral damage all to sustain their fantasy that the celebrity they know is the real one. Yikes.
The least celebrities can do is show how they recognize and respect their real loved ones and don’t think the standom is cute. It won’t do anything to deter the crazies but I think it would be a nice gesture to reinforce REALITY. Pattinson should definitely do it too for twigs. To think that type of hate doesn’t hurt the partners of male celebrities is wishful thinking.
Absolutely this comment!!!!
The part where he said “thats what obsessive, deluded, really scary behavior is.” made me think two things. Firstly, he has stopped pulling punches with the crazies. That fanbase is negligible box officewise but they create such an insane circus and put pressure on his real life relationships. Drag them, Cumbie. Secondly, Robert Pattinson REALLY needs to quit cowering and say something definitive. The fact that Twigs has actually had to speak up about the racism from his fans is damning for him. No ambigous statements, just tell them they are a bunch of racist homophobic weirdos who should focus on their own love lives.
Rob did speak up, back toward the end of 2015, and called out the racism. He never talks about his personal life, and there was a lot of articles mentioning how unusual it was for Rob to speak up about it. NME 9/15
…Twigs herself said she was “shocked and disgusted” by the messages she received, and while Pattinson hates discussing his personal life, he can’t hide his anger.
nme. com/features/robert-pattinson-on-twilight-trolls-james-dean-and-moving-on-from-teen-stardom-nme-cover-feature#sh1cMWvCTkAiIgmq.99
I didnt forget that statement, I just dont consider it unambigous. He made it sound like the onus was on her to ignore it. His lunatic fan army is going after his girl to the point that it gets covered in entertainment news and his response is that those women are just faceless “blobs” and its futile to address it because its all in your mind. Thats not a man standing up for his relationship thats a punk who is afraid to tell of the crazy bitches who follow him. Unambigous goes more like what Cumbie said. They’ll either hate him for it but reform and stay in the fandom or they’ll hate him for it and leave. Either way, the SO finally gets some reprieve.
Naya, that’s not his way, it never has been. The fact he said anything was huge for him. And fans don’t leave – like someone else said, they just deny it happened and go on as usual. It didn’t change for Charlie H (after his video defending his girl), it didn’t change for Benedict, and it wouldn’t change for Rob either.
Half the racist harassment twigs gets is not from Rob fans at all, it’s from ex-Twi fans, or Kristen fans still angry at Rob 3 years later. Rob saying anything eggs them on. He has made it perfectly clear that they are together by his actions, and he has condemned the racial harassment. I don’t think there is anything else he could do that may not make it worse. In an interview around the same time, he talked about how the only thing he can say to his loved ones (when they get nastiness online) is- I am sorry for bringing this darkness into your life.
RPatz should grow a pair. It’s one thing when fans do what they did to Sophie but what they do to FKA Twigs is on the next level. I could never date a coward like Robert and he will lose her if he isn’t careful. No wonder she stopped wearing his ring.
I had to think if you were talking about the quote I was thinking about it. Compared to how Twigs vocalized the constant racism against her because she’s dating Edward Cullen, his meek quote is borderline uncaring, at best dismissive.
I get that he wants to not engage, that’s his right but if he is willing to engage than he should have done it properly. I feel like he doesn’t understand such hatred as he’s a white man so his response will never be truly understanding the whole situation. But loving her should be an easy statement and/or showing real support that is firmly condemning to the crazies is not that hard to do. His choice of being with Twigs has sadly also become a political statement when you see how quickly people were to demean her as a human being. He cannot shy away from this imo.
Artemis: totally agree. The only thing that separates this from actual stalking is physical proximity. If these crazed fans were close enough, I’m sure it would happen. And it has.
Tumblr is a truly scary place, and there are still people who insist his marriage and his child are fake (down to analyzing photos, etc.) SO frightening that people can become completely obsessed and angry about someone just trying to live their life in the profession of their choice, which happens to come with a spotlight.
I’m so glad he addressed this in such a public, direct way. Good for him AND his family.
There are two schools of thought on speaking up. Celebs are usually advised to say nothing, as sometimes speaking up actually generates more drama, and it rarely stops the abuse. Crazy people are crazy.
Pattinson actually did say something about the racist abuse in an interview awhile back. It stopped nothing.
I’m sure partners discuss together how they want to handle the crazies, and whether they want the other to “speak up” for them. I’m not fond of the idea that the male has to “protect” the female – she may prefer speaking up for herself, as twigs did.
Time will tell whether or not this does any good for Cumberbatch, but I’m not hopeful.
I think in Sophie and Benedict’s case, he has to be the one to speak up, because he’s the one with the platform to do it. I actually know very little about her, but she is nowhere near as famous as he is (unless she is in the UK, but I don’t think so?), so he is the one getting the interviews.
All I know about Robert Pattinson and FKA Twigs (I actually had to look up her name to get it right just now) is what I’ve read here, but she definitely seems to have her own platform to call out the crazies. Good for her too.
Charlie Hunnam did something similar not too long ago, I wonder if it helped with all the abuse his girlfriend was getting.
I’m betting that speaking out actually accomplishes nothing, and could potentially make matters worse. The crazies will be so excited their fave actually noticed them that it won’t register that they are going too far and being asked to stop, and it could potentially escalate the behavior.
@Dara,
So true. I can remember a crazy who talked a bunch of crap about him and his wife. During an interview, he said a word that was similar to her screen name. She just KNEW he was speaking of her. She crowed and crowed until someone pointed out that she’d heard him wrong.
They seem to desperately want him to notice them, even if that means they have to go negative to do it. One just recently purchased a ticket to see him. Someone else told the event planners that she was going to be there. I believe she was asked not to attend or was outright banned. This same person even posted how he eye-raped her at another event.
The crazies are already excited, thinking this confirms that BC reads their blogs. I don’t see how, all he said was “PR Stunt”. He doesn’t even defend his wife against the nasty rumors about prostitution and fake pregnancy, he just says how ppl think his wife and baby are a PR stunt and that that’s crazy behavior.
Calling the crazies out never actually achieves anything though, because they aren’t obsessed with the person they’re crazy about, just their idea of them. The actual person telling them to quit it means very little to them, because the version of that person they’ve created in their head would never do that, or would do that but mean something else entirely. If anything it usually makes it worse, as you’ve now engaged with them a little.
All you can really do is wait it out. Eventually the theories become more and more implausible (that fake relationship meant to last months lasts years, the plastic doll baby grows up, the supposed live-in gay true love marries a woman and has kids, the evil puppet-master manager quits/is replaced and nothing changes etc.).
You can even see it with the Bernie Bro’s, petulantly refusing to listen to Bernie Sanders when he tells them to support Hillary. No, no, they’ll vote their conscience and throw away their vote on Stein or Johnson, both laughable candidates.
I don’t think when people are attacking your family, friends and lovers as so many fandoms are doing in recent years should be ignored. I think the crazies need legit help and ignoring their crazy will also help nobody. Maybe there are some crazies out there who did realise or will realise that whatever is in their head, isn’t real which can be an important step to move away from living your life through other people. The truth hurts and it might bring some back to reality.
Ignoring crazy people never helped anybody.
Crazy people aren’t going to recognize they’re crazy if a celeb scolds them. On the contrary, it may make them even angrier. It’s up to people in their real life to spot the signs and get help for them, not a celeb on another continent who’s never met them.
Engaging with crazy, obsessive strangers doesn’t really work out all that well either.
Robert Pattinson either doesn’t care or he has the patience of a saint.
“There is a level of delusion and creepiness around the Cumberfandom” Really??? Coming from THIS site???? (And the Oscar for Lack of Self-Awareness goes to….)
You aint lying. This was ground zero for the Sophie conspiracy theories and it was appalling to behold.
Yes, it was. The level of tinhattery these threads reached was a bit alarming.
TOTALLY. When he was dating Sophie and doing his Oscar run, this place was full of nuts. It was disturbing.
Celebitches should not pretend to be innocent bystanders.
Photoshop. The face. So much photoshop. Both pictures.
And he believes those who obsess about him would have an otherwise dull day but for him. So special. Such a prat.
IKR? All I see is Photoshop. I had a brief fixation with him after Sherlock. I love his portrayal of the character, but a teen hearthrob he ain’t. “The internet’s boyfriend”?!? No, dude.
They have made him look about 12 years old. The photo-shopper will need physio after all the hard work she’s put in.
A most unattractive Man though, even after being photo shopped and even the most boring of days could not be enlivened by Cumberbatch.
He is pure temazepam, made flesh.
It’s such a weird pose: “check my triceps, take a look at my underbelly and junk?”.
Odd.
I mean, I can’t do both things at the same time. Sorry.
Ha! Found out what he’s trying to do on that cover: The Vogue!!! (Come on, vogue , let your body move to the music — move to the music — Hey, hey, hey! Come on, vogue…)
Nailed it.
The early 90s dance party will commence in the gazebo shortly.
“Take a look at my underbelly and junk”
This made me laugh my head off for some reason.
I did not have a “dull day”. Before this, I was having a blast (watching live streams of World Ballet Day, saw new episodes of “Vice”, doing some part-time work from home… I was even reading about some Marvel comics and considered actually reading some—which I have never read before/is something new to me). And then this article came out… And now I’m just pissed off with him and don’t want to see “Doctor Strange” anymore. My mouth is dry.
I wish he had worded things differently, how can he complain about “online stalking” (different from actual stalking, which can be quite scary) when he and his PR/agents won’t address the fact that there are Benedict Cumberbatch impostors duping fans into actually believing they’re his girlfriend. No PSA whatsoever about the criminals victimising his fans? He only cares to talk about ‘stalking’ when he feels victimised/inconvenienced by it.
@DSA, To be fair, he and his PR don’t have the authority to go after any impostors out there. Even if they could track down the impostor/s, busting them would be very low on the priority list – it would entail getting authorities involved, hiring prosecution lawyers and possibly private detectives, etc., and risks becoming a lengthy process if necessary to wait for ISPs to release userdata and such, especially if the issue is international…
It’s absolutely a horrid thing for someone to go through, being duped, but ultimately BC himself has virtually no control over it. It probably happens in private messaging systems so only the impostor and recipient/mark know about it for most of the duration. And say PR does go after one impostor, who’s to stop another from filling the first one’s shoes.
If this is a situation that’s only been outed this year, it’s possible even his PR people are unaware if they haven’t been contacted directly. Another consideration is they’d have no motivation to put time and money into prosecution if the impostor is not doing anything to publicly slander their client.
Those are just my thoughts.
@DSA,
Some would argue that anyone who actually thinks they’re dating Benedict via the web are idiots and have gotten what they deserve. Just sayin.
DSA–he said he didn’t have a public twitter or any public social media account for ages. he also said anyone who says they are him are imposters like last year in an interview
i do think it’s not something he can control sadly. so much of that happens out of view
Studies are showing cyber stalking can have just as bad, if not worse psychological effects.
“Evidence shows that cyberstalking is tremendously disruptive to the lives of the victims. The financial cost of cyberstalking is also very serious.”
Victims of cyberstalking had to engage in more ‘self-protective’ behaviors, pay higher out-of-pocket costs to combat the problem, and experienced greater fear over time than traditional stalking victims.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/01/25/cyberstalking-worse-than-stalking/80350.html
I am very sorry to hear you were stalked. However, you don’t get to judge and deem cyber stalking “not real”. We have seen over and over from abuse victims and people being harassed and bullied that not being believed and people being dismissive of their experiences compounds their pain and distress. Don’t be so quick to dismiss things out of hand just because you haven’t experienced it.
+1 @Lindsay
wrong spot.
LOVE when that happens. To others.
um, lightpurple, he’s responding to a tweet here that was “sometimes when I am sad, I picture Benedict cumberbatch…”
the apple fritter thing is in there too. it’s a weird tweet lol
Looking forward to both Doctor Strange and Sherlock.
Oh my goodness yes. I’m kind of hoping that this next season is the last for Sherlock, though, only because I’m tired of waiting years for new episodes. 🙂
Doctor Strange is among my favorite Comic book characters. I’m worried about how it will translate to the big screen, but I can’t wait to see it. I think Marvel could have handled the controversy of changing the Ancient One better, but I do adore Tilda, so I think she’ll do a great job.
he’s right, his fanbase is barking mad but it’s funny he’s talking about it, i mean does he go on tumblr to find these things out? it’s hilarious to me. find a hobby ben, i hear woodworking is fun, although personally i stick with knitting which i find very therapeutic. try it!
I suppose his publicists do it for him.
why though?? who gives a monkey’s what his crazy stans say on tumblr?
security, ell. there’s crazy stuff and then there’s “oh shit”
this type of thing is a breeding ground for people who could cause harm
The really ironic thing about it is, now that he’s mentioned it, he’s shed light into the “school of thought”, if you will… They’ll start Googling “Benedict Cumberbatch marriage PR stunt” and they’ll find photos (with all that photo analysis—and it’s pretty convincing). I think he’s going to regret this.
And is it just me, or is the constant use of the word “thirst” in the water magic trick video some sort of weird Freudian slip? I feel bad for him now.
“(with all that photo analysis—and it’s pretty convincing)”
Lol, no. About as convincing as a child’s tea party. You have to be incredibly bad at reading people to think that still photographs are worth as much analysis as commenters here gave them.
Honestly I just googled this and saw the “fake” bump his wife apparently had during her pregnancy and all I can say is some people are in dire need of a reality check and some counselling. And a hobby.
@ell,
They have made themselves known in so many ways that he doesn’t have to read their Tumblr blogs to know about them. They have sent nasty tweets to his producing partners, Letters Live, and anyone who has ever come into contact with him.
Tumblr? I’ve never been on it and I’ve been inundated with the crazy batshittery. I mean, we are on Celebitchy right now, ground zero of it.
Some of these people are barking crazy, so it serves him well to have his team keep abreast of any possible threats. He has a child to worry about now.
Now we know he read the rumors and the commentaries about him.
Unless someone told him.
No I think you are right.
he would know via his pr and whoever handles his security
it’s a sad reality but you don’t always know what interviews will ask, so the celebs are told what’s out there in case it comes up
The skeptics have visited his house, hung around outside the theatre, tried to befriend his co-stars, tweeted abuse to his co-stars, deluged the owner of Letters Live with abuse and libel, harassed anyone who comes into contact with either of them. One of them harassed his Hamlet director so badly she had to write a letter.
Poor Ben and Sophie have had to double their security because of all this.
It must be absolutely terrifying. I’m amazed none of them have tried to stab Sophie or kidnap the baby yet.
He doesn’t need to read anything to know about it, they are hardly staying quiet about it.
I can’t quite pinpoint it but that cover’s making me feel really awkward and uncomfortable. Isn’t he like 40-something? Why is he posing like a boybander from the 90s?
Am I the only one not seeing any hype for Doctor Strange? I’m not a Marvel fan so I don’t seek out news about the movies; but when Civil War came out the hype was strong and everywhere in the month leading up to it. Not so much with this one.
I’m a Marvel fan and I’m not sold. I hate they chose a white female actor for the role of an asian male, and the trailer and posters remind me of Inception, one of the greatest films I’ve seen in the last 10 years.
Even Bendy is complaining about the Inception comparisons LOL
I might not see it at all now that Benedict’s constantly annoying in his promo (and I’m someone who thinks the whitewashing of Khan is at least 5x more offensive than The Ancient One—from what I understand about that character, and my understanding is limited because I’ve never been a Marvel fangirl).
I don’t particularly like Inception, but DS is gonna be like the same but sillier, so yes, not exactly original.
@DSA – I skipped that star trek film because of that (not hard to do as I’m not a big star trek fan…)
I don’t watch any films connected to Tom Cruise, Woody Allen, Polanski and Johnny Depp, so I completely understand you.
@ Cee:
Please, don’t ever ever ever EVER read my posts about Inception. You will LOATHE me forever if you do it (just like I feel about Nolan’s movie).
Time to take my anxiolytic(s).
@Eve It’s OK lol
I hated Interstellar though. Snooze fest
@Bread
Civil War was hyped so much because it was basically an Avengers movie, and they are expected to make a crap ton of money (which they do). The smaller origin story movies aren’t expected to perform to Avengers level (Ant-Man, for instance, Iron Man has RDJ, and is on an entire different level) so I don’t think that Doctor Strange will get the Civil War hype.
I think Doctor Strange is such a departure from the ‘normal’ comic book movie that it might be a hard sell to the casual Marvel fan, but we are huge comics fans, and we are very excited to see it, as are all of our friends and the people we see at conventions, comic book stores, websites, etc.
It will be interesting to see how it does in the theater. I can’t wait for the next Avengers movie to see Strange interacting with the Avengers.
One thing I will never stop loving about Cumby is the frequency of his near death experiences. He has one every other week. Poor Cumby. The universe clearly can’t handle his special brand of specialness.
What sort of near death experience though ? Did he have to get on the Tube with us plebs or something ?
LMAO
He was kidnapped, along other actors and crew, in South Africa, and held at gun point. He had to kneel down, and wait to see if they were going to be executed or not, as they had no cash on them.
They were let go. When someone points a gun at you you feel so small and weak that it does change your life. However, he does tell this experience all the time. Maybe that’s what t.fanty meant.
Yes. That’s why he is so anti-politician. He took the central line once at 4.30pm and truly understands the refugee crisis as a result.
@ T.Fanty:
*hypocritically making it about myself*
My niece will NEVER take the bus after one or two bad (meaning reality) experiences. Until she gets her driver’s license, my sister HAS to go out of her way to drive her anywhere (ANY place, for ANY reason — College or entertainment). She sits in the back seat. My sister looks like her chauffeur.
I call her The Empress of The World. Or Empress Palpatine.
Yes and that combined with the fact that he seems to be distantly related to a few of his characters i.e. Richard III and Alan Turing, apparently. He’s a very very special posh snowflake – lest we forget it.
Alan turing was a hero! The Queen should have apologised to him for chemically castrating him because he was gay! His face should be on all of our bank notes! William and Kate should sign my petition because Alan Turing was gay!
God, TIG promo tour was my favourite LOL
Now that the PM is actually advocating pardoning posthumously all criminalised homosexuals, where is he? Doesn’t care anymore, as he’s past TIG and into DS. Next! 🙂
Alan Turing was the biggest hero of WWII! Honor the man by giving me that Oscar!
I had no idea he was so frequently imperiled. Now that I know that, I need Benny and Tom to swim in the ocean together, so that Benny can be stung by a jellyfish and Tom can pee on him.
It may have been in that same interview that Tom Hollander explained how he got Benny to lick his butt while filming Jungle Book.
@lightpurple, I forgot about that. Tom Hollander has experienced quite the Tumblr fantasy, hasn’t he? If Sebastian Stan were now to sneeze on him, I believe that would complete what’s considered a Tumblr Boyfriend Body Fluid Hat Trick.
This whole response thread is awesome (Thanks t.fanty)! So glad I’m not the only one who understands that BC sees himself and his family as a special snowflake(s). The rest of us are just beings who occupy space around him with no significance in his world whatsoeva!
And he should really stop googling himself. Between this and that GQ interview, I’m getting a vision of him furiously scrolling through tumblr and the Daily Mail comment section on his days off and making notes for his next interview on what things to comment on and correct.
Also? Drinking water with straws is bad for the environment, Benedict.
Is that too much light or too much photoshop? Anyway, we’ve had some “crazies” over here selling a pillow-Kit theories which are… laughable at best and creepy at worst.
However, the wife might not have been a PR stunt but the rollout was definitely shady to cover up the shotgun in that relationship. Nothing to be ashamed of in 2015, but Bendy seems to be somewhat old fashioned, no? His PR went into overdrive to make a short relationship into the romance of the century, and to turn the wife into something she’s not.
Agreed. Two people in their late thirties (one of whom has been very open about wanting a child for a long time) wound up pregnant in the first year of their relationship and decided to make a go at it. And now they have a child together. It’s not romantic, it might last or it might not, but it’s a reality for a lot of people and now also for Cumberbatch and his wife.
But I remember the puffing up of Hunter when they first got engaged. It was very evident for anybody who cared to look that she’d been born into money and connections and fancied herself “artistic”. So, she tried a bit of acting, a bit of modelling, a bit of singing, a bit of behind-the-scenes theatre work but didn’t have any real success with any of it.
But when she got engaged to Cumberbatch, she was a “theatre director” and they were supposed to be the new creative power couple in London. Didn’t exactly happen.
They still call her that, but that’s hardly her fault. It’s probably his PR machine which, judging from his Oscar bid, this article and others too, is not the most efficient in the world. 🙂
Exactly. I don’t care about Hunter because she’s not in the spotlight but the way his PR tried to make her into something she is not really bothered me because it seemes she was not good enough for him. She is good enough for him, or for anyone else. She’s gone from theatre director to opera director, to play writing to… curator? His PR is ridiculous.
I know people who had been together for a very short period of time like these two, got pregnant accidentaly and made a go at it. Some married, some didn’t. This is normal and happens all the time, but he felt the need to sell it as something else than what it was.
The problem I always had with the narrative was the selling it as something else. I have a friend who is trying to do this as well, she got pregnant after seeing a guy two months, and is trying to sell it as a great love story, when the guy has been to jail and is bipolar/verbally abusive/an addict. Now, she acts like this is the love we all should aspire to. No thank you.
Oh don’t be silly. They were together for a while before they took the relationship public.
Apart from that one Vogue photo I’ve honestly never seen anything about her nor any attempt to “promote” her, and she could easily be all over the tabloids (like Heat/Closer/OK! level) if she wanted to be.
The same skeptics who’ve been obsessively following and commenting (and making pretty scary comments) from day one are still here. Changing tactics from “fake marriage and baby” to “well they are really married and have a baby, it’s not like we’re crazy haha, but obviously it was a shotgun marriage and they barely knew each other and [insert long stream of insults against Hunter]” doesn’t make you look any less crazy.
Ok Meg no need to get nasty at me. And since I don’t read tumblr posts like you seem to do I have no idea what is said about these two.
What I do remember is Benedict’s PR and interviews before the secret girlfriend reveal and how there was nothing special in his life, how he was waiting etc and then BAM! Engagement and kid in 3 months.
Also – I didn’t say it was her doing. His PR was the one bluffing her CV. And that’s the only thing I didn’t like about this whole “story”. I’m sure Mrs C is good enough as she is without his PR reminding everyone she is a million different things.
This is gossip, relax a bit and tone down your attitude if you don’t agree with another user’s opinion. I’m not the silly or crazy one here.
Ce’ve, that’s nonsense. I’m not even in Cumberbatch fandom but it was well speculated that he had a secret girlfriend who was brunette and lived in NY (he was making regular trips to NY for months with no apparent reason). A journalist who interviewed him said he spent the entire time talking about babies and asking detailed questions about conception and believed he had a girlfriend and they were trying to conceive.
As for her CV being fluffed up, there’s no evidence anything on her CV is fake or fluffed, and anyway they’re talking about things like Wikipedia and IMDB which are fan edited. The only CV online that she has anything to do with is the one on her agent’s site.
@Cee,
I disagree. I think they held back on the announcement as long as possible because some of his fans can be overwhelming, (to put it nicely). I think that he and his people knew what the response would be and therefore put it off until she was showing and they couldn’t hide it anymore.
People tend to forget, but blogs questioning his private love life started way before he stepped out with Sophie. I can remember a blog that used to question if the ‘secret girlfriend’ were any number of women who were standing near him. They analyzed the photos and drew red and green lines over the pictures as proof that said woman was or wasn’t with him.
I used to laugh at it. I thought it was frivolous fun. But I didn’t know what was coming next. Perhaps Benedict and his team did?
I can’t believe people still think his marriage is fake. Seriously? We are not in the 1950s anymore and he’s nor Rock Hudson or something lol.
He seems pretty happy with his lot at the moment, even though those pics – taken apparently when he was in LA during that pap thing with his wife – have been photoshopped like it’s going out of fashion lmao
I still doubt it, to be honest (I saw some photos that I can’t unsee).
What I can’t stand is what people (including himself) keep saying about “deluded fans”, there a legit Benedict Cumberbatch impersonators out there and they lure women (I think it’s actually a human trafficking ring or kidnapping technique). I know someone who was a victim and for the longest time believed she was his secret girlfriend. I wonder how many people out there are like that, duped into believing they’re his internet girlfriend. That’s not “deluded”, that’s ‘duped’!
And I think he and his PR team have no business talking about fans like that when they do nothing to address the matter (like send out a PSA that this or that Twitter account is fake, that there’s a criminal out there pretending to be him on the loose). None of that. All they do is call his fans “crazy”, but do nothing to legit victims of crimes.
Umm.. what?
See? When I talk about Benedict Cumberbatch impostors lurking the internet targeting women, nobody knows what I’m talking about! This stuff is happening and it’s dangerous. Yet, nobody from his PR/agencies say anything to help prevent it. But every single detail about his personal life we get.
Yeah, I was just going to say something like that, YupYepYam.
If a person can be “duped” into thinking she’s a famous person’s secret GF and they got together through his undercover Twitter account, I’d venture a guess that their issues run a lot deeper and can’t be corrected by a simple PR statement.
DSA, you sound like you’re in serious need of a reality check. Cumberbatch is not responsible for policing scammers, certainly not those targeting women credulous enough to believe that they are his secret internet girlfriend.
“(I think it’s actually a human trafficking ring or kidnapping technique).”
If I’m following this correctly, you corresponded with a guy online who you thought was Benedict Cumberbatch and then he showed up at a film festival you were attending, dressed like Cumberbatch, but was not in fact Cumberbatch. You were afraid to walk home because you thought he might attack you or kidnap you. Do I have that right?
@Leo: It actually can. His PR issued a statement that another one of their clients had an impostor—and it was quite effective as the Twitter account was deleted soon after, but would not do the same for Benedict. Also, she was not just duped via Twitter. This was done via email and eventually after they got the victim’s phone number, started WhatsApp-ing and texting. A simple PSA would’ve easily prevented people from falling for that.
@Bob: What? No. The stalking and the Benedict impostor are two entirely separate, different events (the film fest stalker had nothing to do with Benedict). The duping victim has never met the impostor, he/she/they kept trying to lure her into moving in with him/her/them (which is why I think it’s a trafficking/kidnapping ploy). Now can you please stop with the victim-blaming?
Yeah…this was I was talking about when I mentioned the Cumbercrazies. DSA, nah. You don’t know them but feel you can determine the legitimacy of their relationship by pictures? Um. Yeah, that’s kind of creepy. This is what he was talking about and you can choose to be offended by it if you wish but he said it because of the behavior you are demonstrating.
Also, idk what you’re going on about with duping and twitter but he can’t control scams just like he can’t control you overinvesting and creeping on his personal life. If he could, he’d put a stop to both, don’t you think?
Yeesh.
@G: How come you’re invested enough to be this upset/offended that I merely said I saw some photos and I was “convinced” by what I saw? All I said was that I saw a set of photos and they were pretty convincing… You don’t personally know him or anything like that, do you?
Nah man, I’m not even his fan. Your behavior makes me glad I’m not famous. I would never want fans or stans.
Also, whatever. Between that and your twitter drama you’re the one that’s invested, not me. I only know this dude because this blog posts about him. Meanwhile, how many comments about duping and fake relationships have you made?
I fangirl over celebs, sure, but I never feel like I own them.
It was probably a combination of a) peak cumbermania and increased tabloid interest, b) Harvey Weinstein and his pr machinations. Bennedict was up for the oscar that year and Harvey went into PR overload as he usually does when he campaigns for an oscar. All that insane tabloid+PR overload mixed with cumby fandom gave birth to speculation babies.
It was his very obvious PR stunting that caused a lot of the stories – he went from complaining about wanting to be private to pimping his whoopsie pregnancy/quickie wedding for a shot at the Oscar. It could have been rolled out better but he pimped it for all it was worth. Remember those honeymoon shots of them hugging on the California coastline with a Jag beside them (it was later admitted it was a PR stunt for Jaguar).
Exactly, I think you’re right. My only issue about the rollout is that he tied it to his Oscar campaign so heavily. And it came across to me kind of famehoish. Felt like Turing’s story was getting lost (former comp sci major). But I wish him well.
But that’s not how an Oscar campaign works. You don’t get your face in the papers and say, ‘that’s it!’. You have to actually be at screenings that are attended by voters. You have to actually press the flesh at various parties that are thrown. You have to put in the actual work in person.
You can’t be working in England (as he was at the time) and expect to win. Same goes for Keaton, who was also working. IIRC, three of the nominees that year were all working on projects and therefore their time in LA was limited (Keaton, Benedict and Cooper).
The only nominee who had a shot at winning attended the parties and screenings. I don’t know the exact number, but it was ‘a lot’. It’s not surprising that he was the eventual winner. And no, I’m not saying he didn’t deserve to win. And I’m not stanning for Benedict. I actually thought Keaton would win because I thought his story was just too good for Hollywood to pass up.
There is a TV show called Adam Ruins Everything (good show) and he did an episode on awards that validated some of the things I’ve been saying for some time.
Oscar season you kiss ass and shake hands like tomorrow. You don’t win if you don’t meet with people. Harvey invented winning Oscars that way. If Ben had been smart and Harvey planned his campaign he would have been in la not in uk filming Sherlock.
I like how the usual Nans on this site go on their usual Cumbercookie rants, but did anyone ever think he said ‘ppl think my family is PR’, bcuz of Hiddleswift? Bcuz it was one of the reasons Hiddleswift got attention? Bcuz funny how he mentions it after two years of tumblr conspiracies.
“Nans”? You lost me there.
lol, it’s like a term this dude’s stans use. the fandom is like divided between truthers or something like that, who pride themselves on SEEING THE TRUTH and recognising cumberbatch and his lady’s relationship is fake or pr or something whatever. nans are those stans who believe that everything is real. or at least that’s my understanding from tumblr (i’m not actually part of the fandom, i just got bored once and browsed some of those crazy tumblr).
@ Ell:
Thank you. I mean, I believe there was some heavy, outright embarrassing PR during his Oscar campaign, but I think his relantionship with Hunt is genuine.
That makes me a “Nan”? Nevermind.
@Eve and Ell
Ugh. A Nan is a fan (not just from the BC fandom) who severely protects the clean-image of their idol. Swift, Hiddles, Kanye, all these ppl have Nans or nannies.
I think the relationship and baby are real too, but I’m not a nan. So there goes your supposed facts on fandom, Ell.
@ Blah:
Thank you for the explanation, too.
lol @ell. Your usage of “something like that” and “something whatever” is expert.
I think it’s short for “nannies” and Blah defines them the way I do. Overprotective, hovering nannies that have to fix everyone else’s “false impressions”.
Considering I’ve seen these truthers contact his friends and costars on twitter with their conspiracy I doubt that he just found out about this recently. Even Amanda was tweeted by someone begging her to save him from the fake marriage.
Unfortunately he has already lost his brightness. I don’t know whether the cause is his marriage.
When he played Hamlet, it’s sure that his talent has already passed away somewhere.
Hamlet was a lost cause the moment we knew Sonia Friedman was involved. Nice woman and great producer, but her stuff is all commercial.
Sonia Friedman (do you know her well, incidentally?) had no creative involvement. Lyndsey, who I’ve been privileged to work with twice, is a director of rare vision and integrity. Not everything about her production worked (though they had problems like having to junk the entire set two weeks before previews because the revolve wouldn’t fit the Barbican space) but none of those decisions were attempts to be commercial.
Tbh he just seems grumpy now. Not sure when it started, but he used to seem to really enjoy his life.
He’s lost his luster for me and a lot of women. He just comes off as grumpy and angry that he has lost his luster. If you hadn’t had a brief relationship and got a woman pregnant, you may still have more fans. The roll out of that relationship was just tacky. No one bought the great love story of all time.
“The roll out of that relationship was just tacky. No one bought the great love story of all time. ”
I think that is what average people do as well. Have you had anyone come out to you (other than very close friends) and say, – yeah, we married because of pregnancy. No, everyone comes up with some plausible story of great love. This is what the society expects.
Just like when they ask you “How are you?” , the society’s contract is that you’ll answer” Great!”. You would feel awkward having to tell the truth to strangers, no?
For this reason I don’t understand why people are offended by him not telling them necessarily the truth of his relationship. We all do the same thing ourselves.
If people don’t want to be lied about private matters then they shouldn’t ask.
I would prefer people to be blunt and honest. I have had several friends bluntly tell me why they are with their spouses and it is not for love reasons. Wouldn’t it be nice for some honesty: we had unprotected sex, this isn’t a grand love match, we are making a go of it and seeing if it works out for the sake of the child?
@Sasha
actually, I’ve had several people acknowledge that to me. And in fact, none of them were close friends, either. They just outright said “she got pregnant, and I tried to do the right thing”. And none of them were hitting on me or trying to tell me a pity story to get me to like them or anything even remotely like that.
I guess in some ways, it may be easier to tell that to a person who’s not a permanent part of your life: less of a chance that it will get around to your spouse (even if the spouse is very aware, they may not appreciate that you say it out loud).
But then again, no one is expecting (or at least, I’m not) for Ben to say “look, fans, I knocked her up, I would never stay with her otherwise, but being a gentleman, I sacrificed my happiness” or whatever. Of course he shouldn’t say that publicly about the mother of his child, even if that’s how he feels (which I’m not saying he does, btw), friends would be the right people to commiserate. All he had to do is shut up, really. I think it’s the fact that he took a very obvious mess and tried to turn it into a fairy tale that got a lot of tongues wagging.
I know that’s what got mine wagging, anyway: I was a very distant fan of his, as in: I checked the news for his name to learn when the next Sherlock was going to come out, and that was about it. When I first read about Sophie, I was actually super impressed that he picked someone his age, and not a super-famous celebrity. It wasn’t until I saw their first pictures together that I was like “huh? they look weird”.
Do you not see how psycho that sounds?
A man who badly wanted marriage and kids should not have married and had kids because it pissed off some fans?
And talking about “brutal honesty” – yes it’s reasonable to expect that from a very close friend (though it’s perfectly permissible for people to keep their love lives private even from close friends), it’s just bananas and entitled to expect brutal honesty from a celebrity you don’t know from Adam.
Besides all this shotgun, they barely knew each other is very dodgy and sounds like something the skeptics made up. And the “obviously looks like a mess” thing, ditto.
It was obvious that they had an unplanned pregnancy on their hands, at a very inopportune time, and they handled it badly. Anyone who thinks differently is looking with rose colored glasses. He barely knew that woman before he knocked her up and married her. He even looked sad at his wedding.
Hamlet was done when they moved the To Be soliloquy to the opening scene.
I saw the play. They left that soliloquy in its original place. Rumors got out and people went crazy, but they didn’t mess with the order of things.
They did move the soliloquy originally (for the first preview) but it didn’t work so they moved it back to its rightful place during previews. So only people who saw the first couple of previews saw it with the soliloquy in the wrong place.
My issue was not with that, but with the entirety of the play, which was more about stage design than actual acting, It was a pretty meh Hamlet, Ben’s performance included.
Wallstrom, I’m one of the few people I know or whose opinions I’ve read who didn’t like his “Hamlet.” There were certain good things about the production, but his performance was not one of them for me. It was adequate in its way, but he seemed completely wrought up, throwing himself full-on into every one of Hamlet’s more energetic moments to the point of shouting (the quieter moments were OK), and it was exhausting just to watch. Not what I would call a calibrated performance. All the tricky stuff, like with the record player and the toy soldier in the castle, left me scratching my head. I couldn’t find a human Hamlet in all of that showiness. I find his acting nowadays to tend toward overacting in many cases (TIG), though in his earlier days he was very fine.
I agree.
When was the last time a BC article got more than 100 comments?
Well, I commented 12 times because the mention of “stalking” thing triggered me and I freaked. I’ll stop now. Sorry.
Nah you’re good. You made good points.
Cumberbatch and his wife make a great couple. They’re both equally pretentious.
This ^^^^^
“Otherwise boring day.” Gag. My only takeaway from Bendy speaking words is that he really, really doesn’t like his fans – at all. Seriously, has he EVER had anything gracious, appreciative, or even just merely non-dismissive to say about any of them? Sherlock earned him millions of fans all over the globe, but he seems fixated on the .01% of his fanbase that behaves badly. Unhinged and overinvested fans are not a new phenomenon. ‘Twas ever thus, as they say. Or maybe he thinks publicly rolling his eyes at the fandemonium makes him hip and cool somehow. To me, it just makes him look self-obsessed and ungrateful – and glad I’m not an actual fan.
“Fandemonium” is my new favourite word in the universe.
He does say nice things about his fans. I read some nice things that came out of the last Sherlock con.
But there are many fans who are unhinged and scary. He is probably scared of them, and I don’t blame him. I would be to.
Sasha, I’m glad he was nice to the fans that paid a big fee to meet him or just be in the same room, it would be an extra level of churlish if he hadn’t been. I guess I was referring more to his magazine interviews. I’ll admit I’ve not read many, but in the few that I have read he always drives home how ridiculous he thinks a lot of his fans are. He seems unable to separate those that are scary and unhinged from the many others that are simply excited (sometimes overexcited) about his work. To be fair, I suppose it can be difficult to tell the difference at times, but droning on and on about how tedious he finds the burdens of fame to be does him no favors.
ETA: I ventured over to VF and read the full article. It’s slightly less awful than the quotes make it out to be.
He’s fine with the kids and the male fans.
Dara that’s the impression I get, He’s not a good enough actor to fake fan appreciation, and comes across as supercilious and up himself. Thin skinned too.
One day when He’s struggling to get a gig on Midsomer murders, He may look back to the crazy days of fandemonium* with nostalgia.
*Agree with Eve a great word.
“One day when He’s struggling to get a gig on Midsomer murders, He may look back to the crazy days of fandemonium* with nostalgia.” LOL to this.
I think he loathes his fans, unless they are kids (or paying a ticket to be in the room with him). Freeman, who appears to be a lot pricklier on paper, is in fact much sweeter to fans when he meets them in person.
What a horrible interview. Did he say ANYTHING at all that he hasn’t said many many times before? Well, except for calling the crazy fans out?
Exactly Dara. I’ve always thought that he feels his fans are his cross to bear. But without them, he wouldn’t be starring in Dr. Strange would he. He should be grateful but instead he comes across like he hates their guts.
Great point as well Shelly*. I hope this happens as well.
You mean without his role on Sherlock? Not Lord Cumby’s biggest fan but the whole idea a fanbase can get you somewhere is bunk fan entitlement. What he owes is Sherlock since his performance there broke him out, not a small fanbase that studios know don’t mean squat for box office. Fans are good for free promo but will not get you roles.
Personally, if my fans thought my baby was fake or whatever, yeah, I’d pass on them. Move on, get a life already.
And pray tell, how did Sherlock help break him out if it wasn’t for the fans? If nobody had watched the show, who would have cared? Many shows are great, but no one watches them and their actors don’t get the push BC did, despite being as talented (if not more) as he is.
Most of a show’s audience are casual watchers and that’s it. A breakout performance can get you somewhere with casting directors even if the project itself isn’t a ratings/financial smash, provided critics notice and your PR is on it. Fans can help with free marketing at this phase, but again, he’s past the point where it does as much.
The idea that major studios cast parts on fanbases is unrealistic; we know fanbases are a small slice of the pie and fickle just as much as they do. [Especially a US studio in this case, since Sherlock isn’t a major hit there but a niche show with modest ratings at best.]
I’m not knocking his fans specifically, fan entitlement is everywhere. Once you start believing an actor owes you more than a performance, it’s an easy trap to fall into.
@kellie Yes yes yes. Plenty of actors work more than Ben and are waaaaaaaay less famous and have no fan following.
Maybe in the US it’s different, but here in the UK we have truck-loads of talented actors you wouldn’t have heard of, precisely because their shows were not as successful. And yes, they may work but don’t make the kind of money Bendy is making. Maybe Sherlock has not been big in the US, but it’s been huge in China and that market now counts for more that the American one. Look at how they changed DS just to avoid upsetting the Chinese with the Tibetan issue. Maybe in the past fandoms didn’t count for much, but nowadays with social media, they really really do.
late but no fandoms don’t matter. that’s why marvel has done things like cast unknowns and dc could care less about the fans freaking out about batffleck’s casting
basically a fandom say of 500,000 (which i doubt BC has) would amount to $5 million at the box office, which can’t every carry a small comedy let alone a bigger film
Perhaps he’s looking for new fans.
Maybe it is become I still dislike him from Atonement, but can someone please explain his appeal to me?
Once upon a time, he really was a very interesting, edgy and quirky actor. And then fame happened and the narcissist in him just couldn’t resist.
He’s now a peevish, entitled, self-serving shadow of who he was.
OMG, that is so spot-on!
@Nicole,
I honestly didn’t even remember him after Atonement, so when I watched Sherlock, I thought it was the first time I saw BC act at all (I later realized I’ve seen him in “The other Boleyn girl” AND in “Atonement”, but didn’t remember either his face or his name).
I think if you first see him in Sherlock, that sort of cements it, he’s fantastic in that role, it was written for him: the looks, the voice, the clothes, everything just suits him, so he’s very appealing.
If you first see him in his less flattering roles, I can see how you can struggle with understanding his attraction. It took me a long time to see him as attractive when he didn’t have his Sherlock hair.
He used to be different, talented and interesting. He was Sherlock. He walked the streets. The people loved him. Then he got increasingly famous, believed his own hype, decided he wanted to be a *Hollywood Star*, and subsequently sold out. He has become Cumberbatch Inc. It’s pretty clear he’s chasing money and endorsements now. In other words, he’s become uncool. He will always have his fandom who will turn up in “crazy people” droves to his stuff, but he’ll never be loved by the masses again. In fact, his propensity to open his mouth to spout tripe about political issues, the injustice of poshness, and his now obvious distaste for his fans has earned him a hate-dom which will follow him forever.
He’s always wanted to be famous. Didn’t he leave a play that was going to be in new York for a movie? Of course he changed the circumstances of his life changed and so did he. It’s called being human.
@ Bee Define selling out? Because some people seem to think that going for a big movie is selling out when in reality it makes sense, in such a precarious profession to take the opportunities offered.
I don’t know about forever, but certainly he better not aspire to “national treasure” status any time soon. Because that ain’t gonna happen for a long, long while.
I really enjoyed his Sherlock during the first two seasons. I also enjoyed his comedic turn in “Starter for 10”. I thought his Dick 3 in Hollow Crown was good too.
He’s been photo-shopped to look 22 in those pictures. Weird.
Funny how he seems to so often mention being perceived as gay. His mom was in a play and had to do a sex gag, he didn’t like it, “she must have thought I was gay”; His friends “presumed I was gay.” for being into art & drama. His fans “think my wife is PR… (maybe because he has zero chemistry with her?) Well that pretty much covers everyone in your life. Maybe all of planet earth just thinks you’re gay, Benedict.
Why would a man who’s so in tune with the gay community be so afraid to be perceived as gay? Who cares anyway? It’s 2016 not 1816.
@hermia, Well, because he seems to be actually an old-guard social conservative in a liberal’s body. I think he wants to be liberal and is open-minded and compassionate to people of all kinds, but his upbringing, what with Harrow and everything, left him with a sense of entitlement. So he wears a “This is what a feminist looks like” T-shirt but thinks his female fans are all in love with him amid their boring lives, is laudably gay-friendly in practice and sentiment but still worries that he himself could be seen as gay (shock! horror!), and talks an egalitarian game but loves hobnobbing with royals and spouting off in a way that betrays he’s acutely class-conscious and proud of his Establishment credentials.
In one corner we have the Larries and their fake baby and in the other corner the Skeptics and their fake baby . Who will win the fight of the fandom nutters?
I don’t think he is in a PR relationship. However, he was not that clever in the Oscar campaign. And that’s why some people still think he is in a fake relationship nowadays.
Anyway… It was his choice, and he’s dealing with the consequnces of his acts. Yet, I do really like him. I think he has lots of talent as an artist. He’s very solid in his performances, and I wish he brings the little gold man home when the right time comes. I’m cheering for that.
I was at the press night of a fringe play Mark Gatiss is in tonight, and the tiny theatre had to hire double the usual security. And still had fans trying to gatecrash.
No one did anything weird or scary, it was just odd watching it. I don’t know understand the fan mentality.
For some, it’s FOMO. So they attend everything, just in case.
Everything is fake, it’s like “Paul is dead” hoax, but much worse. There as hundred thousand of people, who can make such claims and more poeple, who listen
I *like* what he said about the obsessive fans, and he’s nailed their logic exactly. It’s all about them maintaining the fantasy (within their own minds) that he’s really theirs.
And it’s obvious why he’s making a point of saying it in the press, too. There’s no slap-in-the-face that could be more effective against the baby-truthers than for their idol to personally denounce their behaviour as deluded and dangerous. It’s hard to maintain that my-boyfriend fantasy when your fantasy-boyfriend is excoriating you in the press.
He just doesn’t get it, does he? Everyone is now talking about his cray fans and fake/not fake PR, meanwhile NO ONE is talking about his movie. As for that photoshoot, it’s photoshop heavy and perhaps more representative of him maybe 10 years ago.
@ Bee, only on here and similar sites, not in the real world.
Shady? That’s a BIT of an exaggeration like Christ you’d think he was doing something illegal.
I can see what he is trying to do but I think there are probably other/better ways. Be interesting to see if he is at letters live tonight, I have a spare ticket if anyone wants one.
call me weird but literally the first thing my eye is drawn to on that cover is his appendectomy scar. o.O of all the things they photoshopped, but they didn’t take that out. lol.
edited to add: i don’t actually know if he’s had an appendectomy. he just has a scar in the right place and i do them for a living.