Benedict Cumberbatch apologizes for describing black actors as 'colored'

NEW YORK, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Benedict Cumberbatch said Monday that he's an "idiot" for using the word "colored" to refer to his black colleagues during an interview with PBS host Tavis Smiley.

"I'm devastated to have caused offense by using this outmoded terminology," the British star of The Imitation Game said in a statement to People.

Cumberbatch, 38, used the term during a conversation about the lack of roles for non-white actors in British cinema.

"I think as far as colored actors go it gets really different in the U.K., and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here [in the U.S.] than in the U.K., and that's something that needs to change," he told Smiley last week.

Cumberbatch's statement continued:

I offer my sincere apologies. I make no excuse for my being an idiot and know the damage is done. I can only hope this incident will highlight the need for correct usage of terminology that is accurate and inoffensive. The most shaming aspect of this for me is that I was talking about racial inequality in the performing arts in the U.K. and the need for rapid improvements in our industry when I used the term.

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I feel the complete fool I am and while I am sorry to have offended people and to learn from my mistakes in such a public manner please be assured I have. I apologize again to anyone who I offended for this thoughtless use of inappropriate language about an issue which affects friends of mine and which I care about deeply.

In a statement to USA Today, Smiley acknowledged Cumberbatch's poor choice of word but said the actor had highlighted an important issue.

"Sometimes words get in the way, but what was abundantly clear to me, and I trust to viewers who saw the conversation, is that Benedict Cumberbatch is in solidarity with persons of color who are still staggeringly underrepresented in the film and entertainment industry,"​ Smiley said.

Cumberbatch, who is up for an Oscar Award for his role as The Imitation Game's Alan Turing, starred alongside British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in 2013's 12 Years a Slave.