Hollywood actor Benedict Cumberbatch found himself embroiled in a heated verbal altercation with a fellow cyclist who accused him of cycling through a red light on St Pancras Road in London. The 49-year-old star of stage and screen was caught on camera in a tense exchange that lasted approximately ten minutes.
The Incident
The confrontation occurred earlier last week in the evening. An onlooker claimed to have seen the actor's bike "running a red light" in the cycle lane, with another cyclist in pursuit. The unnamed cyclist reportedly said to the actor, "I knew you were going to do that."
A video of the incident shows Cumberbatch leaving his bike and walking over to the cyclist on the other side of the road. The cyclist allegedly told the star, "You're deluded, you're lying. I was behind you the entire time." Cumberbatch responded, "Dude, you verbally abused me."
The cyclist hit back in a sarcastic manner, accompanied by a crying gesture, and said, "Oh no, I verbally abused the guy who completely repeatedly broke the law." Shockingly, Cumberbatch then admitted wrongdoing, saying, "I did it once."
The cyclist countered, "And then you went through a zebra crossing, you went through three lights." At this point, the actor insisted he did not do what he was being accused of.
Onlooker's Account
An onlooker who filmed the entire altercation described it as "crazy" and "pompous road rage," adding that it almost felt staged. The onlooker said, "He was calling Benedict 'deluded' and 'a liar.' Benedict still managed to charm everyone watching even though he was having a meltdown. They went at each other about five times. It was really busy, and they blocked the lane so no one else could get through."
The onlooker continued, "The masked guy was obviously some kind of vigilante - he was really taken aback when he saw it was Benedict Cumberbatch, but he doubled down on his rage. Everyone was just stood there with jaws dropped. These school kids asked 'is that Dr Strange?' and asked for a picture with him. Benedict said 'not at the moment, in a minute'; he was lovely with them, they were awe-struck."
The incident ended when the cyclist rode off while Cumberbatch posed for a selfie with two fans. The onlooker concluded, "I don't condone dangerous driving, but for this guy to follow him and cause an incident like this was worse than Benedict slowly cutting that light."
