While discussing the issue of diversity in the UK creative industry, Benedict used the term ‘coloured’ - something which is now considered outdated.
‘I think as far as coloured actors go, it gets really different in the UK, and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here [in the US] than in the UK, and that’s something that needs to change,’ the Sherlock star told host Tavis Smiley.
‘We’re not representative enough in our culture of different races and that really does need to step up a pace.’
And while Cumberbatch was doing his best to raise awareness to an important issue, charity Show Racism The Red Card said that the term he used was racially inappropriate.
They said: ‘the term coloured is now outdated and has the potential to cause offence due to the connotations associated with the term and its historical usage.’
Viewers of the talk show also responded with comments about the actor’s use of language, with one user writing: ‘benedict cumberbatch used the word ‘coloured’ to describe black people in the year 2015, um, are we still using that word?’
The actor later said he was ‘devastated to have caused offence.’