I was hoping to see some photos of Benedict Cumberbatch at last night’s BAFTA TV awards in London. Alas, he didn’t show up. He was nominated for Sherlock, his fifth BAFTA TV nomination, and now he’s a five-time BAFTA TV loser. He’s a BAFTA Film loser too – he was nominated for The Imitation Game earlier this year, his first BAFTA Film nomination, and he lost to Eddie Redmayne. This time around, Bendy lost to Jason Watkins, star of the miniseries The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries.
So why did Benedict not even show up? Was it because he figured he would lose again? Or was it because he’s finally staying close to home as his wife is due any moment? According to sources, it was because of Sophie. That’s not all – The Daily Mirror says that Benedict and Sophie have decided to call London home indefinitely, after flirting with the idea of a move to LA:
Where is Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch putting down his roots? Elementary, dear reader…it’s London. The Sunday People can reveal that, the global superstar has turned his back on the glamour and glitz of Los Angeles so he can raise a family in the English capital with his new wife Sophie Hunter.
Benedict, 38, and theatre director Sophie, 37, are expecting their first child in the next few weeks. And despite the lure of big Hollywood roles after a string of Oscar nominations for box office hits like 12 Years a Slave and The Imitation Game, the dad-to-be is determined to bring up his offspring on Holmes territory.
Benedict, who hopes to win a TV Bafta on Sunday night for his role as the Victorian detective in BBC One’s Sherlock , said: “I am nesting for my family and just living a London life.”
And in The Remarkable Case of the Modest Superstar, Benedict added: “I want to live as much a normal life as I can.”
I didn’t really think this was in question, at least for the time being. Benedict is scheduled for back-to-back projects in England for the next year, isn’t he? And Sophie is still “theater directing” or whatever, and all of her best connections are in England. So of course they’re staying there. For now. But we’ll see what happens if, 18 months from now, Benedict gets offered some big project in LA or NYC or whatever. He would happily uproot his family, I’m guessing.
PS… Shall we even put bets on the Cumberbaby? I’m saying it will be a girl and they name her something like Delphina Hermione Wanda Cumberbatch.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Jason Watkins was amazing so not surprised he won.
Isle of Wight man can still say “He hasn’t even won a BAFTA”
I was rooting for Toby Jones but was jolly happy with Watkins too. Whichever way you look at it, Bouncing Ben was by far the weakest nominee in the actor category this year. Some fabby performances in some interesting stories.
Detectorists won and Mackenzie Crook looked as though he was about to collapse! Marvellous won! Happy Valley won!
Good night all round.
I agree and I say that as a fan of his acting, but he wasn’t the best in that category. Especially not for Sherlock.
I vote Cornucopia for the name, boy or girl.
I think he’s a good actor too. But a relatively tired performance in a relatively tired role didn’t compare well against the competition, did it? I was also glad to see the guy who does all the ITV bio-pic mini series get honoured. He brings properly British stories to the small screen in a way the blessed BBC often fails to manage.
Oh, and Georgina Campbell for Murdered by My Boyfriend – another good award.
I like Cornucopia! See my effort below!
Yeah, I’m okay with it not for this series. But he definitely should have won for Series 1, imo.
Jason Watkins and Toby Jones were amazing and either deserved the award more than Bunny Batch.
Stephen Rea was a winner for me -i love his off beat style minimalist of acting.
Mackenzie Crook’s speech was so adorable! I’m glad he won, Detectorists is such a funny show.
The fabulous MacKenzie Crook winning something makes me giddy
Best Bunny joke of the evening from Clive James
“Broadcaster Clive James received one of two special awards. While he wasn’t present at the ceremony, his acceptance of the statuette was certainly memorable – especially when he realised “at last” who the Bafta itself was based on: “They poured molten gold onto a wax face mask of Benedict Cumberbatch,” he exclaimed, prompting much laughter around the auditorium.””
Meh joke. It does amuse me that you catalog jabs at him though, like chill.
I still think it’s a scandal he has not won a BAFTA for season 1 of Sherlock.
It was a joke and the audience found it funny-not sure why it is problem.There were jibes /jokes floating around all evening -it is the nature of Bafta humour.
I’d bet anything that baby is already here. London life? She hasn’t been seen anywhere and there are people watching the place in Hampstead – I think she’s either holed up with her mother in Edinburgh or on IOW, as they still try to blur the truth about the shotgun nature of their hasty engagement and marriage by not having anything but pre-arranged pap photos taken. Sooner or later they’re going to have to register the birth. I wonder if they’d have the balls to lie about the date.
And as for “nesting” – he starts rehearsals for Hamlet in an eye-blink, I’m sure he’s studying the text (there are always cuts in every production) and is already meeting with the director.
I feel somehow that Cumberbatch’s shot at leading-man status in films was short-lived, is over, and that Hiddleston, Redmayne, Hunnam, and Hardy are going to outpace him very soon. I think the drain and distraction of his hasty marriage and ooops fatherhood dragged him off message at a critical time and that he’ll never be able to work back to the “brink” of international stardom outside of Sherlock and the Internet.
She, of course, will do far better out of it all than he will.
@Seesit
+1,000,000
Agree with every word. That baby has been born. She’s holed up somewhere actually being private about it. It’s definitely to blur the lines of conception, and keep within HIS failed attempts at a true love narrative. His attempts at creating a back story also failed miserably. We got, “love bomb” and “asset and tool.”
This is the same guy who refused to be seen with her prior to the Times announcement, and the three month mark. Or as he saw it, the point of no return. Lots at play behind the scenes, in those days, I’d guess. He was also the person who felt the need to reinvent “his now and forevermore’s” cv beyond all prior recognition. He kept her hidden, had his people recreate her accomplishments, of course he’s keeping the sprog under wraps as long as possible, it’s more in keeping with his story. It will be interesting when the baby is finally “revealed as a newborn” at a few months of age. He really thinks people are stupid.
Love your post and I tots agree. He was on the cusp of international fame and the ship may have sailed. I think he’s trying to use his wife/baby as an excuse to curb his way over exposure persona and that’s why he didn’t show at Baftas. Why do you think Sophie will fair better than him though? She rides on his coat tails so how could she do better in the fame dept?
Keira Knightly hasn’t popped yet and I thought she was ahead of Sophie-Otterpus?
Agreed! Also, I’ve already said that I fear for his Hamlet because, as you said, he’s gone off message at a critical time.
@Fairweather She’s already doing better. Before BC, no one knew her and now she’s been featured on Vogue! And once the embargo is over, she’ll even be able to speak! In public!
And how exactly a few weeks difference in the arrival of the baby could change the narrative?
Too conspiracy-nutter for me, plus a whole lot of assumptions.
I believe she does what she feels like doing. If she wants to talk, she does (Vogue, festival thing). She doesn’t need to be holed up as she’s not recognizable to the general public on her own.
Whether she is not allowed or doesn’t want to talk, it’s still (considering that Vogue article) win-win for us.
Human is the only one listed up there with a legit shot on traditional leading man status, and even that’s iffy.
The others will have good careers, Cumberbatch too, but honestly the days of leading men per se are gone.
@Ange
How does a few weeks change his narrative? Hmm, let me see. He said in an interview that they were already talking about marriage before she became pregnant. The baby being born late April/early May blows that narrative.
He said in another interview there was no reason to appear together at LFF because they weren’t yet engaged, when it’s now clear she was already pregnant; but again, the baby already being born, discredits that narrative, as well. He was also checking his phone in China, and said the birth was upon them at the Con. So more narratives from BC, so many in fact that it’s hard to choose just one.
Sorry, but I still can’t follow you logically. Baby born today or baby born in a couple of weeks, what’s the difference again?
“Human is the only one listed up there with a legit shot on traditional leading man status, and even that’s iffy. ”
I agree. There’s no place for alien :p
Hiddleston,
Redmayne,for sure now that he has an oscar and Bafta behind him,
Humnan comes over more as a heartthrob/action man as opposed to a serous actor
Hunnam,
Hardy and Hiddleston have the talent potential. Hardy stood out in Tinker Taylor ans Locke and Tom’s range so far has diversity and recognition from those that count
Ha, Josa, I do that more often than not with his name!
@Icerose: Redmayne’s not attractive enough, plenty of actors have Oscars and BAFTAs and it mean f-all in a few years; Hiddleston’s not distinct enough, and Hardy’s already pegged a character actor.
All three will continue in a mix of lead and supporting in big studio and indie stuff but won’t reach leading man, aka former Pitt or Depp, heights.
Hunnam only has a shot because of his looks and the endurance of action films, but I don’t know about his talent personally. You can be a leading man and not be super talented anyway.
But hey, true leading men are dying out. Studios have learned that having so and so as your lead doesn’t guarantee a flush box office.
Pink pagoda, you are way too over-invested. Sorry, he’s taken!
Don’t be angry with Pink Pagoda because she figured out the crap.
Little OT, but maybe the ladies from GB know that – is the Isle of Wight a tax haven?
No, not like the Channel Islands. Apparently they’re trying to become one though.
They should name the baby Brienne Catelyn Shireen Cumberbatch
Halley Coggia Ikeya-Seki Hale-Bopp Cumberbatch.
I’d have made it longer but I ran out of girly-sounding comets off the top of my head.
Hale-Bopp! Throws down mic. You Win.
I like that but I would put Hale-Bopp first.
If a boy: Drogon Viserion Cumberbatch, because giant lizard thingies.
Nice. Charlotte Cumberbatch like the ickle wickle princess.
Nigel Ralph (pronounced “Rayphe”) or Caliope Hortense (but called Binky, even as an adult).
Yes!!
Spit my tea at the Binky comment:)
Seriously, why is this man STILL talking?
Go nest if you’re nesting. Stop talking about it.
I believe he has, the quote is weeks old and he’s since fallen off the general radar.
Thank you CO, I wondered if the quote was old. He should be banned forevermore from using the word nesting. Just stop. Like using some quasi-technical term he read in a baby book is going to make the whole thing seem all cozy and domestic and quite out of his control. It feels like a lame excuse for why he does – or doesn’t – do things. “Sorry, but I can’t attend your fancy awards show that is 10 minutes from where I live – I’m nesting”.
No more nesting…Unless he is actually a pterodactyl (flying lizard), then I’ll grant an exception.
He has been mumbling about “nesting” since February
Np, Dara, I’ll note he never said anything about why he didn’t go to the BAFTAs. Work’s my guess, awfully close to Hamlet now. It’s weirder that Freeman bailed last minute.
Most of the stuff he’s done this year would’ve been in place before the pregnancy, so it is what it is.
@CO, my comment about nesting being an excuse was of a general nature rather than the BAFTA’s specifically. But I do get mildly perturbed when I see a nominee (no matter who they are) is a no-show. To my mind, there are only 3 vaguely acceptable reasons for not attending something like the BAFTA’s, 1) work commitments elsewhere – as in more than 6 hours away elsewhere 2) you are already a legend and don’t give a rip, i.e. Dame Maggie Smith and 3) family or medical issues.
If the baby has just recently arrived (mazel tov! if so) then ok fine, but it seemed BC never had any intention of attending so I’m not sure I’m buying that. He had better be working on Hamlet in his free time, but until rehearsals start he is in control of his own schedule, so not buying that either. Martin wasn’t nominated as an individual so I’m slightly less perturbed about him being MIA (but wasn’t his wife there?). Sherlock is what make those two famous, it seems a tiny bit petty and small to not show up and play gracious nominee.
Mumbling… I see what you did there, Lilac. BOOM!
So how long do we give this self-inflicted “nesting period”? Lord Otter keeps mentioning it, but like “fetch”, it never seems to happen.
Weeks, possibly months. Hamlet prep starts soon, and I don’t think he’s done anything since this quote from like 3 weeks ago.
Didn’t he just do some Sherlock festival thing?
sherlocked was also about 3 weeks ago
and probably got 100,000 for 3 days work if he got any thing Tennants call out fee-possible even more,
The nesting and the carrying of sunshine are only smoke and mirrors to distract us from the fact he won SFA for TIG and now Sherlock.
He won the Emmy for Sherlock, hermia (?)
It became really unlikely he’d win the BAFTA for Sherlock once he didn’t win the first time. There’s plenty of good actors who haven’t ever won diddly.
He started talking about nesting and sunshine during his failed campaign for TIG. I know many actors win nothing. Let’s ask them if they also carry sunshine.
I never said he’s not a good actor, just that he’s not a good loser. 🙂
ps yes, hermia, like A midsummer night’s dream hermia. 🙂
That’s to distract from the shotgun narrative, tbh. IDK I said it below, I feel like the analyzation and fixation on them is getting a little weird.
What’s with the nesting? I’m not English, and I find the expression so weird… Birds nest… What’s the origin of the expression, can anyone tell me?
It’s what most animals do when preparing a place for their baby’s arrival I guess?
Nor am I and I live here but he means staying home, making the house ready for the baby?? I didn’t use that phrase when I was pg. Most people I know here don’t say that either.
That expression is just too silly for me. Anyone who uses it deserves to be slapped, pregnant or not.
(Just kidding though)
Well, he’s the one using it and he’s not pregnant, so slap away.
It derived from the bird concept, Solanaceae. They used to think only women did it back in the day but now know men do too.
its a ridiculous twee term which describes something birds do, hence the word ‘nest’
shut up you ridiculous man. you might be painting a nursery, buying nappies or arranging a sedan chair for she of the unemployed and the surprise kid, but you are not ‘nesting’.
The nesting term makes he laugh because I envision Lord Otter with twigs and thread in his teeth, flitting to and fro from his home to retrieve more nesting materials.
Canadian here – we use it a lot. It’s a charming connotation of creating a homey environment, snuggling into your place and making it cozy and comfortable. It’s not necessarily used to describe impending birth, more just settling into your surroundings. So Nayru, I guess you get to slap me.
with nanny,the cook and the bottle washer
It is specifically that hormonal surge in energy many pregnant women get close to birth where they go into overdrive, cleaning for hours, setting up the nursery like crazy, etc.
I totally did this both children, it’s real – nesting instinct.
Do lizards nest? I thought they just leave the eggs to hatch.
Literally, laughed out loud. Thanks! 🙂
Jammy, he’ll be leaving the eggs once they hatch… he’s got work to do!
Mummy and daddy lizards…http://animals.pawnation.com/long-lizards-stay-mothers-8882.html
Whenever I see the pic of him and Sophie (the one where she has the yellow pants/skirt thingy and the big hat) it always freaks me out because they look exactly the same!
The yellow pants/skirt thing picture looks like her pants/skirt/thing is stained.
Oh my gosh, it does! It looks like she wet herself….d’oh!
I thought it was odd for him not to be there unless she’s had the baby or in labor. She’s not a delicate flower who can’t do anything for herself, even if she’s overdue. Perhaps he just didn’t feel like drumming up one of his two loser faces…again. She might have been the convenient excuse.
Hurray for Happy Valley. Loved that show. And now I have even more shows to look for on Netflix.
My guess is baby might have arrived last week and he just wanted to stay home.
Which is fair enough, given he probably knew he wasn’t going to win, Martin didn’t go either.
@MtnGoddess [sic, because I love you], perhaps there was a veiled threat in there somewhere from Lady Otter?
Green Goddess, you wrote what I thought too.
Didn’t think it was odd, he doesn’t go every year.
Lindy79 could be right or he could be working. Hamlet rehearsals are just a couple weeks away plus he’s got Strange prep if they’re filming right after Hamlet ends.
Is he still talking?
I have to be really honest, but BAFTA have a habit of snubbing people, Tom Hiddleston should have had a nomination for Hollow Crown and Maxine Peake should have won over Olivia Coleman. And, this year, the actress that played Cilla was brilliant. Maybe they have issue against theatre and/or northern actors.
Yep, it’s not much different from the Oscars in that respect. Also not a fan of the tiny juries deciding who wins.
I’d agree that Sheridan Smith (Cilla) is overdue some awards. She’s a great actress. But not this year. She didn’t give the best performance.
Sheridan Smith is such an amazing actress, I’m surprised she isn’t more well known in the States. And I think she should have won for Cilla, she was amazing.
She just did an episode in the last series of Inside No 9. Did you see it? It was a thing of true beauty.
I was hoping for a Sarah Lancashire win. But I think they went for impact on the target audience with Campbell, and it was a worthy win.
That was the most amazing short-story writing for TV I have seen in a long time. Inside no9, that episode was brilliant. the rest of the series paled in comparison but still quality! Reece Shearsmith is my new crush, his cameo in Peter Kay’s Car Share was brilliant.
I think the female section was a tough call but not the mens. Olivia Coleman is a critic favourite so i was not surprised.Maxine Peak can out act them all but rarely gets nominated for her work.She is /was amazing in the Village and Silk.She plays tough independent women.
I think numbers and the voting breakdown went against Tom. You had him in competition with Irons playing along side an amazing ensemble cast where as Ben had little competition for Richard 11.Not saying he was not brilliant but the play was cut to give him centre stage.
I don’t get the Ben Whishaw praise for Richard 11, I watched it again the other day and the whole production got on my nerves especially the ending. However, I watching from being a non-Shakespearean reader or lover of films. I am judging from a historical entertainment POV and I struggled with it.
But, Henry 1V pt 1 was brilliant, I keep watching it over and over again.
But fair point about Jeremy Irons, who I believe got an Emmy nom, but not a BAFTA nom. Mind you the American voters think Downton Abbey is quality drama.
Maxine Peake is a magnificent actress.
I just can’t with them. My words to describe him and these comments wouldn’t make it past the filter 😔
I don’t want to think about what he’ll say when the baby arrives 😢
An #embarrassmentofriches….
Who is biological father?
Jesus
I can’t see Jesus wrestling with an octopus.
okay,, Noah? he wrestled with many animals getting them on the ark
Oh my! Hilarious! You all have made my day!
Didn’t a bunch of online articles come out saying that he had won and then had to be retracted? What was up with that?
That happens quite often with results, entertainment or political. He was the odds-on favorite, so the media had articles ready to go. Since many of them use AP, it’d be released at the same time. Just people asleep at the automated wheel.
Ah, I see. How embarrassing for all parties involved!!
Sherlock won the audience vote which is more about fan base size and was pretty much a win /win.
I think he new he would not get the best actor award-the competition was to great-either that or he considers the TV Baftas beneath him
Honestly, BAFTA’s known for snubbing patterns, icerose. He should have won for S1. It became very unlikely he’ll get one anytime over the next decade or so once he lost on S2.
Anyhoo, the voting nom pool is huge, most of the members, but the TV category winners are decided by only 9 people or so. Not the greatest system.
May should be a September day that the Cumberbaby was conceived, I believe I had my second in June, found out in October, but he was born seven weeks early.
I suppose the baby could have already been born, but I think there would have been an announcement?
I doubt it, given his feelings towards the press and his privacy I’d imagine he would want to keep this quiet and make some sort of statement after the fact, unlike the wedding.
He seems to stick himself in front of any random microphone or camera
I suppose my thinking is that he can hide when he wants to. In order to tie in with him stating that she wasn’t pregnant at the time they got engaged, or at the least they didn’t know she was if she had the baby by now that would mean it was premature (lets hope not) or he lied.
I don’t buy all the grand conspiracies about them, just that she got pregnant and they got engaged then married before baby, which is why wedding was back in Feb and they don’t like that narrative so are hopelessly trying to make it something it isn’t.
A baby born in mid May would indicate she was heading for her 3rd month on 5th Nov and most likely they knew and it’s the whole reason for the rush.
I’m guessing you wont see her until mid June, he’ll also keep a low profile as he wont want to be asked about it.
Lindy79 nailed it. It’s not some big conspiracy thing or even that uncommon for celebs to do.
On a personal note, I’ve no idea why people are so fixated on him, whether it’s negative or positive. There’s both better and worse out there.
It wasn’t a grand conspiracy until Ben turned it into one. He could have either not married her and paid child support or married her and just owned up to the oops baby if asked. Instead, he turned it into a Sherlock episode. Don’t blame everyone for figuring out the truth.
Anon, ask what though? Do you think it’s a permissible question to ask somebody if their child was planned or not?
who the heck is going to advertise their kid is an accident lol
No asking necessary – it is obvious the kid was unplanned. He could have made a statement or just kept quiet. He didn’t have to engage in the verbal gymnastics he put himself through to cover it up. Things happen, people would have understood. Stop making excuses for him.
Can’t see how stating the obvious is “excuses” now, anon321. People aren’t understanding.
Not saying what he did was the best approach, but christ it’s not hard at all to see why he did. It was CYA for him, her and the baby. And it worked.
@carrie So you are saying that if, instead of going overboard with love bombs and forevermores, he’d just said from the start (November) “we are in love, happy and expecting a child, thank you for your good wishes and please respect our privacy”, people wouldn’t have understood???
What is there to cover up, when it is the truth of your love and happiness you are telling?
What was it JC said? The truth will set you free….
Yep, hermia. Hell, people were saying they were only together because she was knocked up even before the engagement announcement.
I conceived my eldest on Sept 6th and due May 24, which happens to be the day after the Comet was reported to be due.
Didn’t someone announce that he was a part of a Red Nose Day promo around that same time?
I’m hoping we get an announcement well after the fact, without much fanfare. is that possible in the UK? or is there a legal requirement to put it on public record right away? if she had a home birth, since she might be able to keep it under wraps for days, possibly weeks.
red nose day is largely prerecorded, i’d wager he’s not leaving london to do it. it’s nice we’re getting it in the states though!
I don’t know how honest they were about the due date. They did have that September poem read at their wedding. And they’d be able to explain that weird LFF outing by saying they didn’t know yet. But I really don’t think he put a ring on it until she was 12 weeks gone. Which would make conception in early August when they were in Rome and that would make her due this past weekend. If there were some conspiracy and she conceived while he was out of town, she’d only need to fudge by a couple of weeks. But that’s doubtful. Early August conception jibes with the PR rollout too. By mid September, we got our first tab confirmations that she was the “secret girlfriend.” By LFF, she made her first public appearance at an event he was tied to and there were some weird pap pics of them in the general vicinity of being together. By early November, they probably thought she had been sufficiently introduced for the surprise engagement.
I try to cut him some slack because it feels like this dog and pony show is for posterity. For when someone starts hearing whispers and getting teased at boarding school. He or she will pop on Google and ta-dah! Just like magic: “Mummy & Daddy were too in a real relationship & in love. I was a surprise, not a mistake.” You know kids are cruel. He’s made several veiled references to keeping the details of his relationship up until the engagement private and a few to not wanting his family humiliated. I’m sure he can’t mean his parents and Sophie. All of those parties know how exclusive or non exclusive he and she were up until she got pregnant. And they know everyone else can count and has probably figured it out. This has got to be for the kid.
I think they didn’t wait until after the baby was born to get married because any titles or peerage granted to BC in the future would not pass on to an illegitimate child – even if his/her parents did marry later.
In order to pass titles, one only has to prove paternity, and you also might wanna check the definition of illegitimate offspring. Anyway if the Comet is going to give birth latter this month how y’all going to spin that?
Mmm. Check how Christopher Guest got his title, Ann. I don’t make those rules. Correct the Queen on her vocabulary.
Exactly, Pegasus. It’s pretty simple.
Not sure why they married, BC’s got no peerage to pass. Could be them giving it a go or even for legal/financial reasons.
titles do not get passes on to Ben only to his children and as far as i can find out she is not a member of the peerrage any way-she just has connections to throaty through her family who hold posts in the royal household etc
Or maybe they got married because they care for each other? They’ve known each other for years. Or they met up again and realized they aren’t getting any younger and decided to give it a go.
I think they decided prior to May of last year to get married. Because 1) That’s when they made their first public appearance. That means its more than a fleeting relationship. 2) No way does one get a Valentines wedding date in the few months after the engagement announcement. 3) No way is Valentines day just a happenstance.
I know that some don’t like to hear this, but as a couple they probably talked about it long before the engagement announcement, pregnancy and their first appearance as a couple. So no blackmail (Benedict alternately has a ton of money to give to Sophie, or he’s so broke he has to do a car commercial), no pedophilia (you heard me), no shot-gun (because they were planning for months) and no big conspiracy.
She gets pregnant whether on purpose or accident (mid to late 30s my money is on purpose) and they continue on with their plans to marry on Valentines day. The relationship is stable, so why not? She was showing a small bump in November or thereabouts, so the cat was out of the bag so to speak. They announce the pregnancy soon after.
She was photo’d about a week ago still pregnant, btw.
She said herself in Vogue that Valentino rushed her dress in 3 months instead of the usual 6, unless you know more than SH does. And why rush it if they had arranged the wedding months before???
As for the Valentine’s wedding, he said (at the Oscars) it was the only day when everybody was free, so = convenience. Unless, again, you know more than he does.
And as for the date itself, he’s a celebrity he can get things a lot easier than us mere mortals…ask the poor guy who couldn’t visit his wife’s grave because of BC’s wedding.
I find it ludicrous that some people try to rewrite history to fit in their own narratives.
Whether it’s a great love story or merely a question of making the best of an accidental pg, the facts remain what they are.
They became serious late August (because so we are told by her brother) and that is when (probably) she got pg. I too don’t believe it was an accident, so they either planned it or else.
As I said below, I think they are made for each other and the marriage will last, but I don’t believe for a second that it was all neatly discussed and arranged back in May 2014. Because in that case they would have married earlier not waited until she was heavily pregnant. Who’d do that????
@delorb – “I think they decided prior to May of last year to get married. Because 1) That’s when they made their first public appearance. That means its more than a fleeting relationship.”
Before the Hay Festival, he attended the Monaco Grand Prix with Kinvara Balfour. Why did he take another woman (with whom he has been previously linked romantically) to Monaco, if he and Sophie were already a “couple”/ were planning on getting Married?
Benedict and Kinvara were seen out together a few times in March/April 2014. (There are pictures of Benedict and Kinvara at a Pub Crawl in March 2014) He spent time with Kinvara before the Hay Festival. So when were Benedict and Sophie planning their Wedding?
He was seen out and about with other women including Kinvara until late August/early September (2014). In San Diego he was seen/pictured walking next to/leaving a restaurant with a “mystery blonde.” He was seen/pictured with a “stunning” blonde at the NT (Aug. 2014) There are pictures of Sophie spending time with other men last summer.
Not if they were trying to obscure when she got pregnant in connection with when they decided to get married. She had to be 8 months’ along in those Bora Bora photos right after the Oscars. He said himself they didn’t do the red carpet together at the October premiere of The Hobbit because “we weren’t together [meaning engaged] yet so what was the point?” If they weren’t engaged yet in October, how could they have been planning the wedding in the summer when she got pregnant? My guess looking at those Bora Bora paps is that she got pregnant in late July, dropped the bomb end of August early September, they waited the first 12 weeks till end of October, then he bit the bullet and agreed to put a ring on it. Then they tried to walk it back and say Oh we were already planning to get married when she got pregnant, this isn’t a shotgun marriage.
Except he said they weren’t engaged yet in October, and if she got pregnant then, she wouldn’t have looked the way she did in early March . . .
If she were 8 months pregnant in Bora Bora, then she would have given birth already. Those Bora Bora pics happened in March, correct? Its now May and she’s still pregnant, as per people who saw her recently.
I don’t believe in these “people who saw her recently”. Too much gossip, not enough evidence. . We will know when his PR people release the news, which will be – I bet – long after she’s given birth.
“Nesting.” LOL. What a dork.
He won’t be nesting for too long though. Im sure Dr.Strange will start production in a few months.
He won an Emmy last year and he didn’t even showed up, snobby little prick. Today, is not news that TV has better material and more alluring for actors who doesn’t want to do comic books movies, or video games movies or silly commercial stuff. And then there is that mafia (Harvey Weisntein and Co.) that create buzz around mediocre movies and performances because Oscars are all about the industry agreements between studios, agents, voters and publicists. Agents (CAA) are among the scum of the biz that rules the whole game.
In fairness, I don’t think anyone expected him to win the Emmy. He was also in the middle of filming IIRC. It would have been disruptive to the production for him to fly out to LA for even just a few days. In that scenario, why bother going on a transatlantic flight and so on for an award you feel you likely won’t win?
Whatever the reason, it’s biting him in that ex-lush behind of his, since he doesn’t seem to be winning anything anymore.
@Greengirl,
The facts don’t matter I guess. We had several articles on this board that showed him on set during the time he was said to be campaigning HARD! We also had an article that said Eddie campaigned harder than anyone by actually moving to LA and being at every screening (as well as being charming to industry types). I think the other best actor nominees were also working like Benedict.
I think the CW around here was that Benedict got engaged just to sway voters, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, because this is Hollywood we’re talking about. They don’t care if you rat out your friends or rape a child, when it comes to ‘art’. But somehow getting engaged was supposed to tip the balance in his favor, because suddenly Hollywood only gives out awards to married men. Its not hilarious when you think about it. LOL
He got engaged because he knocked up a side piece.
@anon321 – All of that!
I think there should be a bet on if it’s even his.
And I predict the name will have at least one Shakespeare character in it, like Frances Flute or Shylock
Bottom!
LOL – I think you should get something for that . . .
BC & SH baby names from some sarcastic people
Boy
Hunter Cash Cumberbatch—Hunt Otter King Cumberbatch – August Hatch Cumberbatch – Cash McCurrency Cumberbatch – Octo Catch Cumberbatch – Art Avant-garde CumberbatchCumberbatch
Girl
Diane Chasse cumberbatch – Octopi Designee Cumberbatch – May Cashee Cumberbatch – July Honey Utter Cumberbatch – Valentine Honey milk Cumberbatch – Diva Opera Cumberbatch
I LOVE all the baby name suggestions. Please keep it coming!
Gollum – they can call it “my precious”
That made me laugh out loud….thanks for making my day😆
I think the problem is really just BC improv-ing all these conflicting narratives rather than coming up with one consistent story and sticking to it from the start. Really, he didn’t even need a narrative. If he’d stayed private and said something simple like “Thank you. We’re very happy” and left it at that he wouldn’t have been tripping over all his conflicting statements.
First, they got engaged and announced a couple of days later. Then he said that they started planning the wedding before she got pregnant, but judging from how far along she is, she was pregnant before the engagment. Then there’s the different lengths for their relationship. Does it matter? Not really. But then why do the stories keep changing? It’s the inconsistencies that have people wondering.
What he needs to learn is the KISS method: Keep It Simple Stupid. In this case, don’t offer any more info than you absolutely have to.
And you have top that off with all the other drama as well: the fan bashing; fan baiting; the drunken GQ speech; that PoM tumblr Q&A; the lame attempt at Sherlock erotica for Elle, I believe, despite the character being asexual; the New York mag shoot where a happily engaged man with a baby on the way is being chased by rabid fans half his age (making him look like a dirty old man); followed by his supposed hatred of sneaky fan pics but he’s okay with selling staged honeymoon pics as long as he’s getting paid by Jaguar; and of course the Tavis Smiley interview where in an unfortunate slip of the tongue he managed to refer to some of his fellow actors as being “coloured.” – charming.
I think one has to look at the mess as a whole and not just the marriage/baby. That’s what really has people scratching their heads.
In such a short amount of time, the man has gone from media darling to tumblr’s whipping boy. He’s got one hell of a hole to climb out of but he’s only has himself to blame.
You just summed up what I thought but wrote it way better than I ever could. That’s it exactly!!
I see where you’re coming from, Whatever. But I think this whole situation has caused him incredible stress. And maybe being the thinking woman’s crumpets made him feel too trapped in an image to live out his personal life the way he wanted to. It looks like a slow implosion. I think he’s a nervous sort who has diarrhea of the mouth and may never have been good at lying. A cool head would have done exactly what you said.
+1, Pegasus
It’s stress of all sorts+ pressure+him being a terrible liar. If he were more dishonest, he could have pulled it off no problem, sad but true fact of the matter.
He is still a media darling. The 20 people who constantly bash him on tumblr are just the sad people who have no life , and need a target to spend their energy on . If it weren’t Cumberbatch it would be somebody else like Kristen Stewart, for example.
The joke is they could have avoided all of this if they’d just cheerfully announced they were pregnant as soon as the first trimester was up, slipped off to a registry office to get married, and said they were thrilled on both counts and would be having a BIG celebration after the baby arrives. They wouldn’t have had to plan a Big Wedding, skipped all the Valentino/Wintour pretentious crap, and he could have focused on his Oscar campaign the way Eddie Redmayne did – after all, he got married too during the award season – only his wedding planning actually DID start lots earlier.
Why did they have to hang so many ornaments on this story that it came down around their ears? If they’d done the simple thing, all this innuendo would never have gotten this far.
That’s it in a nutshell. If they hadn’t gone for the media blitz and just kept it simple it would have been a non-story. Man quietly marries GF. Happy couple expecting a baby. That easy.
The problem is he has a chronic (if not terminal) case of foot in mouth. He’s said problematic things in the past, but because he was relatively unknown it would blow over. With his increased visibilty that’s not gonna fly anymore.
And sadly EN it’s not just tumblr anymore. Look at any gossip site. Read the comments on news stories. Hell the news stories themselves have started casting some subtle shade. Many of them stress how BC lost AGAIN (all caps) or how he lost for the FIFTH time.
The Daily Mail (yeah I know, the Daily Fail is not exactly know to be the voice of reason but) they went with: “And now, Benedict Cumberbatch can also add BAFTA TV Awards to the list of prestigious ceremonies from which he has walked away empty handed this year.” Emphazing how much of an award loser he is.
There was more press shade, but I don’t feel like wading through that all again. Anyway it seems to me like the tide is turning. Used to be he could do no wrong. Now, not so much. Tumblr is were it’s the most out in the open but the shade is spreading into other media now as well.
He panicked. He probably never thought his family would start this way. And he doesn’t want his kid to feel badly in the future. So, he’s tried to revise history. That might also be part of the reason he’s been resenting all of his fans. His fandom is smart, has a good memory and good analytical skills. But even the fans who are buying the revised history annoy him because they’re still up in his business like they’re friends of his. Too bad it all went down this way. But this too shall pass. Hopefully, he’ll learn something, some fans will cut him some slack and others will back off and join the reality that they are total strangers who don’t mean much more than box office and merch. And that’s not bad. He’s grateful for that. But that’s it.
They couldn’t have avoided this if they’d tried. The issue is that some fans are butt-hurt that he got married to someone who wasn’t them. You can tell from what they post. They alternately rail at him for NOT giving them the details (as listed above) to railing at him for giving them TOO much (also listed above).
They hoped he and Sophie would attend the ceremony, just so they could rip her to shreds. They claimed that a mother that late in her pregnancy should be at home. They didn’t show up and surprise, surprise, Sophie is bashed for being too delicate to attend the ceremony. And Benedict has gotten too big for his britches (see above with the 10 minutes away comment).
They were sure we’d get pictures of their wedding splashed in the tabloids. He was trying to get an Oscar, that’s the only reason he married her, right? That it was scheduled to happen well after voting had ended, is not a detail to discuss. When the pictures didn’t come, they railed at him for not giving them the pictures. Why? Because that would ease their fears.
Don’t ask why some fans have ‘fears’ that need easing. One even famously predicted the wedding wouldn’t take place. Some even say to this day that it didn’t. That it was all a sham and the guests just sat around inside the church watching the clock.
Now they’re pissed because she hasn’t given birth, which should have happened already if their charts, tarots and blind items were correct. No way does he win against people who get their information from tarot cards.
Thank you. He is exhausted from keeping up this charade but none of it was necessary. He did and said EVERYTHING except fly to the moon and back to change the harsh truth to a fairytale.
I’m surprised, as I’ve heard ‘He’s in a hole’ a couple of times but he’s headed in the right direction if he wants to move past web famous to something more substantial? He’s going to be positioned very well as long as Hamlet and Strange don’t turn out crappy.
You expose yourself more to move up, which leads you to be overexposed to just a small fraction comparatively. This results in backlash; you pull back until the time is right. This is why all your A-listers have experienced backlash at a few points in the past.
Now, that’s not enough on its own. He needs to get out of the ‘so and so is sexy’ crap and other non-major features mainly up and comers do for promotion.
Same for most reblogged on Tumblr, that’s a who’s who of who the hell is that? save RDJ usually. Your bigger actors have an active, loyal ticket buying audience but not an annoying social media fanbase.
I agree, I think the tide is turning.
A lot of headlines about him are now about how many awards he has lost, how far he’s dropped on a ‘sexiest men’ poll etc.
His attitude and demeanour just seem unpleasant lately and he has come across as angry and bitter in recent interviews.
He always brings up how annoying it is when fans take sneaky pictures, nothing about paparazzi. I’m sure it is annoying but the way he talks about his fans is just classless.
I think he doesn’t really grasp how social media works these days. It used to be that stars would do interviews for different mags and tailor their interviews for those specific mags, which was fine because they had vastly different readership.
Someone who reads Wall Street Journal probably isn’t in the same demographic as the readers of Elle or US Weekly. People wouldn’t have noticed inconsistencies in the past because they wouldn’t be reading all those mags. But now w/the internet people can see & compare all these interviews at the click of a mouse.
So in the past someone could make disrespectful comments about their fans in the say Wall Street Journal and think “oh the teen girls will never see it there”, but you can’t get away w/that these days. Those kinda comments make the rounds and come back to bite you in the bum.
I think he just isn’t savvy enough to make it as an A-lister. I’m not saying is career is over, not by a long shot, I just don’t see him making it to the top of the heap in Hollywood.
He’ll be fine, tbh. The press up and down you’re talking about was coming even if he spewed rainbows and unicorns because that is how it works. Build ’em up, tear ’em down, rinse and repeat.
I don’t think they need to consider the career part that much – just looking at the cities themselves, London is far superior to LA.
Thank you, Founding Fathers.
They’ve been together since 2013 and living together since 2014 (see parcel gate). Long enough to decide to get married and start a family together. I don’t see any signs of any conspiracy, only increasingly desperate fans who are butthurt their celebrity boyfriend chose a woman who wasn’t them. BC could have dated or married anyone, the response would have been the same. Look at the abuse and hatred thrown at his ex.
How do you know they’ve been together since 2013? Ben himself confirmed they had been seeing each other for only a few months in an article published after the engagement in late November. Their friends confirmed it had moved quickly and only got serious in late summer of 2014.
Her own brother said late summer 2014, but I guess you know more than her family does. LOL
Ephigenia Xanthippa Cumberbatch
Richard IV
Anyway, they will have the baby and then all this speculation will be hopefully over.
My two cents is that despite appearances and logic (even mine), they are going to stay married for life. They seem very well suited to each other (whichever way you want to take it).
I agree he should have only said the minimum or nothing at all, and few would have batted an eyelid.
I would really love to know why he looked so unhappy (not only stressed, but really unhappy) the first few months, but I guess we shall never know.
I give them a year. She seems exceedingly nasty and he will tire of her attitude.
He was unhappy because he had no intention of having a future with, using his own words, “that woman” and seemed mortified that he was going to have a child with a woman he barely knew.
I thought at the time it was a combination of concern about the baby (Sophie looked really sick in the beginning) and exposing Sophie to the press and attention as well of the shock of finding out he was going to be a Dad. The amount of side eye from people around him though-possibly different conclusion. I agree that the arrival of the Cumberchild will, hopefully, decrease the hysteria over this relationship.
She looked fine to me, except really annoyed to be around his fans. And he looked more sad than concerned or stunned. Sometimes he looked as if he was on the verge of tears. As I said, we shall never know.
Time will pass, people will forget. Hopefully, he will start talking about his work again and keep his business to himself.
That’s what has made me question the whole thing, tbh. His (seeming) complete apathy towards her. And her (seeming) loathing for him.
@Hermia-the GMA interview spoke volumes. He definitely looked trapped and upset. The NY TIG RC-I’ve gone back and looked at the footage. She really looks pretty sick there. But the other RC’s-all had their own degree of weirdness.
Bottom line-we’ll never know-at least not til the memoir.
I never saw Sophie looking sick unless your definition of sick includes smug and rude.
Where is this baby?! Surely it should have been born by now.
Conspiracy theory-it’s already here. Ben’s walks on the heath are to get away from the crying. 😉
He may just be enjoying the last of his solitary (sort of) days. The quiet before the storm.
Walking to get away from Sophie.
Any titles granted to him would be honorary and not something to pass down to the kids. Only hereditary titles pass down. Christopher Guest was born into the peerage, it wasn’t something granted for services rendered.