Alan Cumming is a delightful character actor who has starred in franchises, art films and Tony Award-winning musicals. He’s worked consistently in American film, television and theater, and he ended up becoming a naturalized American citizen in 2008. He’s also married to an American, Grant Shaffer, and they’ve been together for the better part of two decades, I believe. Well, Alan is still married and he’s still working a lot, but he no longer lives in America. He no longer wants to live in America. He moved back to Scotland last year, although it sounds like he’s maintaining his place in New York. As you can imagine, this move was a political decision.

X-Men star Alan Cumming has claimed it is ‘scary’ to live in Donald Trump’s America as he revealed why he had to return to his native Scotland. The Traitors US host, 60, who now spends more time in his native Scotland than New York, has claimed prominent Americans are ‘scared’ to speak out against Trump. Alan admitted his decision to be in Scotland came because he wanted to be in a country where ‘people are looking out for each other’.

‘The political situation was a factor,’ the actor admitted. ‘I wanted to be in a country where I feel my values are more aligned with the actual values of the government and the people. It’s comforting to be in a place where you know people are looking out for each other.’

He added of the US: ‘It’s scary to live there right now, especially being well known and outspoken. I realised so few people do that any more because they’re scared.’

Alan revealed his plans to move back to Britain in January 2025 after more than a quarter of a century living in America as he joined the mass exodus of anti-MAGA stars. The award-winning actor moved to New York in 1998 after starring in Cabaret on Broadway. He went on to have a glittering career in the States, where he was nominated for two Golden Globes and three Emmys for his starring role in the hit series The Good Wife. In 2008 he even became an American citizen. But last year Alan said he eventually wants to die in his home country after realising that Americans don’t share his values.

Alan told Kaye Adams on her How to be 60 podcast that he wanted to be among people who felt the same way about the world as he did: ‘I feel like I am pulled back, because I really like how good it feels and how important it is to be around people who share my values. That gets really important as you get older. I feel I lived in New York for a long time and I love it, but more and more with the political situation in America, I realise people don’t share my values. It’s so great when you’re here, that even someone far on the right wing still thinks it’s important to have a safety net and to be kind and compassionate to people less fortunate than you. In America that’s clearly not the case. You realise the American dream is really every man for himself and I just value more and more now being here. Grant was here and after a couple of months he said: ‘Gosh I just love the fact that no one around me has a gun.’

[From The Daily Mail]

So be it. I don’t blame him at all, and it sounds like he retained his British citizenship. He’s right about the American Dream and how it’s become “every man for himself.” When even white men and naturalized citizens are admitting that everything is screwed up, maybe people should take a moment and listen. This also reminded me of Cumming giving back his OBE honor in 2022/23 because he didn’t want to be so cozy with anything involving “the British Empire.” Maybe it’s different in Scotland.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.