‘Happy Birthday to me!’: Alan Cumming hands back OBE after discussion about ‘toxic’ British empire

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Alan Cumming says he has handed back his OBE after a re-examination of the “toxicity” of the British empire. Cumming, who has US as well as British citizenship, explained that he’d received the honour for “activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA” at a time when same-sex marriage was still illegal in the US and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was in place in the military. “The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British empire profited at the expense of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes,” the 58-year-old said. Sheen said that he’d quietly given the award back as he realised he would have been a “hypocrite” were he to keep it and still give the lecture about “the nature of the relationship between Wales and the British state, and the history of it”.