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Alan Cumming is further explaining his reasoning behind returning a British honor he’s held since 2009.
The Scottish actor, 58, who announced on his birthday Friday that he returned his Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire honor, tells PEOPLE more about the motive behind the decision while attending the AARP 21st Annual Movies for Grownups Awards on Saturday.
Noting that the reaction to his move has been “incredible,” Cumming says, “I mean, first of all, I didn’t ever expect so much attention about it.”
“It’s been really positive,” he continues. “People really understood why it’s complicated, it’s complex, it’s not a black or white thing.”
Adds Cumming: “I tried to say that in my statement, and people have really responded to that. I think times are changing and things change, and you change how you feel about something.”
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Alamy Stock Photo Princess Anne and Alan Cumming
RELATED: Alan Cumming Returns British Honor Awarded by Queen Elizabeth Over ‘Misgivings’ of ‘Toxicity of Empire’
The honor was presented to Cumming in 2009 by the late Queen Elizabeth II as part of her birthday honors list, where the star earned recognition for his acting work and campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights. Princess Anne distributed the award to him at Buckingham Palace.
When revealing the news that he returned the OBE, Cumming posted a message on Instagram announcing “something I recently did for myself.”
“The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes,” The Traitors host wrote. “Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire).”
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He continued, “So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!”
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Cumming — who was honored during an investiture ceremony — isn’t the first honoree to return or turn down an award or recognition presented by the royal family. Some of those names include David Bowie (who turned down two awards: a Commander of the British Empire in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003), film director Danny Boyle (who rejected a knighthood in 2013) and The Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis (who declined a CBE in 1952).
Additionally, Michael Sheen quietly handed back the award in 2017 after receiving it in 2009. “By the time I had finished writing that lecture [about the relationship between England and Wales]…I remember sitting there going, ‘Well, I have a choice — I either don’t give this lecture and hold on to my OBE, or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back,’ ” Sheen told The Guardian columnist Owen Jones in 2020.
Alamy Stock Photo Alan Cumming and Princess Anne
Elsewhere during the Movies for Grownups Awards, Cumming chatted with PEOPLE about how season two of his new show The Traitors will leave him with “more crazy things to wear.”
The competition show, which he hosts, is set in a remote castle in the Scottish Highlands and has contestants compete for a whopping quarter of a million dollars.
Cumming said that there are also “loads” of off-screen moments that he wishes viewers could see on the Peacock program, which features contestants including Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Brandi Glanville, Big Brother’s Rachel Reilly and Survivor’s Stephanie LaGrossa.
“I mean there were things that happened that were not, probably not for mass consumption,” he says. “People freak out. People freaked out at various points … But you know, you get the gist.”
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