Alan Cumming is no longer an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
The Scottish actor marked his 58th birthday on Friday by sharing a message on Instagram announcing "something I recently did for myself."
"I returned my OBE," he wrote, referring to the British award given to him in 2009 by the late Queen Elizabeth II as part of her birthday honors list. Cumming was honored for his work as an actor as well as his campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights.
"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," The Traitors host wrote. "Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, 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)."
He continued, "So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I'm now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!"
Cumming received his honor during an investiture ceremony, where a member of the royal family distributes medals in recognition of exemplary service to the U.K. recognized on the monarch's birthday and New Year's honors lists, from Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.
As the actor noted in his Instagram post, he said at the time, "I am really shocked and delighted to receive this honour. I am especially happy to be honoured for my activism as much as for my work. The fight for equality for the LGBT community in the US is something I am very passionate about, and I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen. Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her Birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American."
Cumming is not the first to hand back or turn down an award from the British royal family. He joins a group that includes David Bowie (who turned down two awards: a Commander of the British Empire in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003), film director Danny Boyle (who rejected a knighthood in 2013) and The Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis (who declined a CBE he was to have been awarded in 1952).
All four of The Beatles were all made Members of the British Empire (MBE) in 1965, but John Lennon returned his honor four years later.
"I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts," he wrote in a letter.
After receiving a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009 for services to drama, Welsh actor Michael Sheen quietly handed back the award in 2017 after looking into the history of the relationship between England and Wales for a lecture. "By the time I had finished writing that lecture...I remember sitting there going, 'Well, I have a choice — I either don't give this lecture and hold on to my OBE, or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back,' " Sheen said in a conversation with The Guardian columnist Owen Jones in 2020.