Benedict Cumberbatch weathers his first bad news item

Benedict Cumberbatch, star of “Sherlock” and the Internet’s official boyfriend, is very, very sorry for an uncharacteristic misstep. While discussing the differing difficulties black actors face in the U.K. versus the U.S., Cumberbatch used an unfortunately outdated phrase: “I think as far as colored actors go, it gets really different in the U.K., and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities [in the U.S.] than in the U.K.,” he told Tavis Smiley during a visit to his PBS show.

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And now he’s very, very sorry. “I’m devastated to have caused offense by using this outmoded terminology,” Cumberbatch says in a statement. “I offer my sincere apologies. I make no excuse for my being an idiot and the know the damage is done.”