Benedict Cumberbatch, the acclaimed actor and vocal environmental campaigner, has found himself at the centre of a hypocrisy storm after opting for a highly polluting mode of transport for a casual social call.
A Contradiction in the Clouds
The 49-year-old Sherlock and Doctor Strange star, who serves as a Greenpeace ambassador and has publicly protested with Extinction Rebellion, recently took a helicopter flight over Devon. During the journey, cruising at approximately 10,000 feet, he spotted the country home of his personal assistant, whom he affectionately calls 'Flynikins'. In a spontaneous move, Cumberbatch texted to ask if anyone was in before landing the aircraft on the estate's manicured lawns for a cup of tea.
This private helicopter trip stands in stark contrast to the actor's public advocacy for sustainable practices within the film industry. Just last year, he urged Hollywood to 'think about transport' and become more sustainable, criticising on-set waste and the use of plastic water bottles. He has followed a plant-based diet since 2017 and even wore a vegan outfit to the Met Gala in 2019.
The Environmental Cost of Convenience
The incident highlights a common critique levelled at celebrity activists. Helicopters are notoriously carbon-intensive, emitting around 20 times more carbon per mile than a standard car. For a campaigner who has lectured Tinseltown on its 'grossly wasteful' habits, the choice of transport for a casual visit appears difficult to justify to observers.
Cumberbatch himself has previously admitted that celebrities are often accused of hypocrisy when raising environmental issues. His representative was approached for comment regarding this specific journey. One hopes his assistant served the star oat milk with his tea, in keeping with his well-documented plant-based principles.
Meanwhile, in High Society...
In other celebrity news, Liam Gallagher has purchased a £4 million property in the Cotswolds, complete with a gypsy caravan. It remains to be seen if the Oasis frontman will follow former PM David Cameron's lead and use the secluded space to write new material.
Elsewhere, socialite Lola Bute is making a statement with a T-shirt slogan and hoping for a proposal from her model boyfriend, while model Tigerlily Taylor has admitted to using her doorbell camera to keep tabs on her music producer partner. Emma Thynn, the Marchioness of Bath, is set to join the reality TV show 'Ladies of London: The New Reign', and George Clooney was spotted purchasing anti-ageing cream in Soho, despite his claims of being unconcerned with vanity.
Finally, Radio 4's Emma Barnett has revealed she drinks a nightly dram of whisky to ward off flu, channelling the spirit of Margaret Thatcher, while Lady Mary Charteris frets over makeup deliveries from the plains of Kenya.
