In an apology for using the word “colored” to describe black actors in a recent interview, Benedict Cumberbatch said he makes “no excuse” for “being an idiot.”

“I’m devastated to have caused offence by using this outmoded terminology. I offer my sincere apologies. I make no excuse for my being an idiot and know the damage is done. I can only hope this incident will highlight the need for correct usage of terminology that is accurate and inoffensive,” Cumberbatch said in a statement, which the Daily Mail printed in full. “The most shaming aspect of this for me is that I was talking about racial inequality in the performing arts in the UK and the need for rapid improvements in our industry when I used the term.”

PBS’s Tavis Smiley had asked Cumberbatch about British actors playing American roles and mentioned films like Selma and 12 Years a Slave, which star David Oyelowo and Chiwetel Ejiofor, respectively. “I think, as far as colored actors go, it gets really difficult in the U.K., and I think a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here than in the U.K. and that’s something that needs to change,” Cumberbatch said. (The discussion starts at about the 22-minute mark.)

The Imitation Game Oscar nominee faced criticism on Twitter, and the organization Show Racism the Red said in a statement that while Cumberbatch “highlighted a very important issue,” “in doing so, he has also inadvertently highlighted the issue of appropriate terminology and the evolution of language. Show Racism the Red Card feel that the term ‘coloured’ is now outdated and has the potential to cause offence due to the connotations associated with the term and its historical usage.”

I thought the Brits used "colored" more of a non white, not exclusive to black people. Also Indians, Asians, etc,

I find it amusing the arguably most well-known extant civil-rights group in America calls itself the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

We could include white people in the "colored people" family. White is a color too, so why the discrimination? That would not be a bad idea, would it?

White isn't really a colour. In the light spectrum, white represents all the colours. Black represents the absence of colour. But brown is definitely a colour. So is yellow.

A mixture of colors is still a color. Like green is a mixture of yellow and blue. Is green not a color?

And black is not a color then?

People get way too offended anymore, and feel the constant need to find something to make themselves a "victim".

And when said "victim" gets offended, the "culprit" often freaks out and apologizes, more often than not, for no reason. It's dumb.

If co-workers or friends make gay jokes or use hateful words around me that could "offend" me, they always freak out and apologize immediately (or later), asking if I was offended. Uhh.... nope. They're often just words without any real hate or malicious intent behind them. Relax people.

I feel exhausted just thinking about the effort people are putting into said words these days.

I do think "colored" is widely accepted as being an outdated term.