Benedict Cumberbatch speaks out about stopping London 'robbery'
The Sherlock star reveals how he attempted to "calm the kids down" and "stop traffic” to make sure there were witnesses
Benedict Cumberbatch made headlines back in June after an Uber driver claimed the Sherlock star saved a Deliveroo rider from a group of attackers in London – and now the actor has spoken out about the incident for the first time.
When asked by US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres about what happened, Cumberbatch revealed that he saw a "delivery guy getting surrounded by some guys" in November 2017 and asked the driver of the Uber he was in to pull over.
"I didn't think twice about knives or acid or any of the other things that can be part of that situation, so it was a bit foolhardy," he said.
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Cumberbatch added that the story had "all got a bit exaggerated" by the driver and that he felt "a bit weird talking about it”.
The driver of the car originally told The Sun that Cumberbatch was a "superhero" and that "if he hadn’t stepped in, the cyclist could have been seriously injured." He said: "Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street."
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Describing what happened, the Uber driver had said: “He stood there instructing them in the street, shouting, ‘Leave him alone'... I had hold of one lad and Benedict another. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He was very brave. He did most of it, to be honest.”
However in Monday’s interview, Cumberbatch revealed: "I just stopped the Uber that we were in and got out and tried to intervene, tried to calm the kids down, who were riled up, tried to calm him down, he looked like he was about to fight for his life...
"I also tried to stop traffic so they could witness it and if anything did happen, there were people there and that might scare any violence out of the situation."
When DeGeneres asked Cumberbatch what the Uber driver was doing and whether he helped, the actor said: “This is where it gets a bit embarrassing because he said he was in there and I was fighting and I jumped on someone but… he was very supportive that night.”
“Like keeping the car running?” asked DeGeneres, to which Cumberbatch responded: “Yeah, it was a cold night and we needed warmth afterwards, especially with that kind of adrenaline shock running through you.”
Cumberbatch has been filming the Channel 4 docudrama, Brexit - hence the shaved head - and will soon be heard voicing The Grinch.
