we have to double down our efforts and i
can't speak today
at this amazing moment in my life
on this extraordinary platform without
acknowledging the obvious of what's
happening in the ukraine
and to show my support for the people of
ukraine
my support for the people of russia who
are opposing the kleptocracy and the
idiocy of their rulers
to try and
halt the progression of this atrocity on
behalf of the hollywood chamber of
commerce we now declare today
benedict cumberbatch day in hollywood it
is now time to hear from our honoree
ladies and gentlemen may i present to
you benedict cumberbatch just another
day at the office
um i'm gonna need my phone because i
have a brain like a sieve and this is
possibly the most surreal thing that's
ever happened to me and that's that's
saying sam uh wow okay well quickly
please can i thank the hollywood chamber
of commerce for this extraordinary honor
um i'm i'm british so part of me is
finding this incredibly painful
um the other part of me is quite
enjoying this massive ego stroke um it's
an amazing spot listen i didn't grow up
in hollywood i didn't grow up in this
culture
i was talking to kevin about it how the
first time i got to visit here was
because of really playing khan for jj so
to have him speak and then to be
bookended with what that guy is going to
do in may behind me
really speaks volumes as to why kevin
and jj couldn't be better place to
embarrass me and just say the most
extraordinarily generous things about me
and my work as you've just heard um
fame huh
it's an odd one
it's another one because
it's often a search for approval or
approbation or love
and i grew up in a house where none of
those things were in short supply
probably the most amount of privilege i
had in my youth was that the love from
two extraordinary parents who can't be
here today but uh somewhere on the phone
watching mum and dad timothy carlton
wanda ventham to give their acting names
i love you so much and
there are many weird things that make
this collection of cells on this third
rock from a planet as a storyteller be
celebrated today but you're really chief
amongst the cooks of those ingredients
so
this is your star and i'm going to bring
you over at some point and you can have
your photograph next to it
um
i uh i wouldn't be here without some of
the people that are supporting me my
team
have been part of this extraordinary
journey which just uh yeah it blows my
mind having it reviewed in the way that
jj and
kevin just so kindly did um
[Music]
john grant
my agent my dear friend my collaborator
a man of great taste it's rare in this
industry to be rung up by people who
have talked to your agent to say how
much they like talking to your agent and
i have to say the same also goes for
billy lazarus and tara jones whose hard
work and
consistent patience
yeah they performed minor miracles all
of them in scheduling my life into
making some of what i do possible
um
and tracy jacobs who's been such an
amazing figurehead over the last few
years of uta uga support for me i adore
you tracy i adore all of you and i can't
thank you enough for being here my
friends peter and wendy who are really
loco parentai in absence of my mum and
dad
who've hosted me in their home who've
been generous with their time their love
and made such extraordinary connections
with me and my family
um every time we've been here um i'm
thrilled you're here and cody thank you
for coming thank you all for coming
roger and everybody who's here
um
liz and heidi i love you you're new to
the team but it feels like we've known
each other forever um
and
to to some people who are absent here in
england my wonderful publicist karen
maskel i wish you could be here as well
this is as much yours as it is anyone's
and
there's a lot that goes on under this
earth there's a lot of it that belonged
to people and
indigenous americans before and before
that somebody or an animal or just
whatever that to contain this space for
a little bit of time
is
extraordinary um
[Music]
and
i don't know you know this is just so
hard there's so many people i want to
mention um
my niece emily also couldn't be here
today uh
and i want to mention my sister who we
lost
uh last year
trax was
she would have loved this she really
would have done she was unbelievably
loyal
supportive and
she yeah she would have loved the glitz
and the oddness and the glamour she
would have just been laughing non-stop
all the way through i'm probably crying
and i hope somewhere up there um
where the real stars shine you're
looking down on this moment now i'm sure
you are um we miss you so much you are
and remain such a good and wonderful
person to have had in our lives
um
i'd like to thank another few people who
aren't here um that made this possible
in one degree or another donald mcinnis
my makeup artist
um uh kathy highlands
um joe will for somebody i should
mention as well
i i we also lost someone to covert this
year dear friend of mine um patrick
monroe peanut is
the name that tom hardy and i knew him
by
who was introduced to me by tom and was
my trainer finally enough for jj to bulk
up for playing khan i think i've
probably gone over my two minute limit
but i don't care this is important
he was a difficult he had a very
difficult time with his health and yet i
thought he was
probably one of the strongest most
gentle souls i've ever met and
the last i heard from him was a text on
a ventilator and an icu unit this has
been
a really painful year for so many
hundreds of thousands of millions of
people around the world um
not just those who've lost loved ones
because of this but also because of the
separation
and the anxiety and tensions that that
has caused um
and the other existential threat that we
have faced as a species has continued to
in the global climate crisis we have to
double down our efforts and i can't
speak today
at this amazing moment in my life
on this extraordinary platform without
acknowledging the obvious of what's
happening in the ukraine
and to show my support for the people of
ukraine
my support for the people of russia who
are opposing the kleptocracy and the
idiocy of their rulers
to try and
halt the progression of this atrocity um
but it's more now for all of us to do
that just have thoughts and prayers we
need to act we need to go on to embassy
websites we need to see what we can do
as citizens of the world citizens of
europe
and people who want a better place and a
better
outcome for this horrendous moment for
these people with children with families
who are struggling to survive as rockets
rain down on their cities
uh we can't stand back anymore we need
to act and there are things you can do
you can sport organizations
you can support
those who help refugees on the ground
you can support human rights
organizations you can pressure your
politicians your bank your
industries to recognize anything that
you can do to help and it is possible so
i urge people to do that on this day i'd
like to thank a bunch of incredibly
talented um men and women um
dear friends of mine um
[Music]
julio chris joe miranda kate jeffrey
just to mention a few of you uh you
would love to be here to take the piss
out of me right now and uh i'm sorry
that you're not um but you keep me
grounded
in each and every way the too many
possible as as does
the most important people in my life um
other than my mother and my father of
course my wife
my best friend
and my
co-adventurer sophie um
i i don't really know how to say what i
need to say to you other than
uh repeat some of the things you've said
to me over the last couple of days like
remember you're not a comedian
um
yeah maybe the rest shouldn't be made
public but yeah but seriously your your
support uh your honesty searing at times
as it is
your style your grace
your beauty your generosity and your
love are extraordinary and i'm just i'm
really enjoying this but it wouldn't be
half the ride if i was on my own without
you that it is with you together we've
created an amazing amazing family of
three extraordinary little human beings
um
who i yeah again i would say a lot about
but you know what i feel about them and
this is public so i won't
they're amazing they're amazing and they
taught me a lot of what i now do and
know
and they've also undone a lot of what i
do and no one you know should anyone
wonder if i can't recover from this kind
of celebration and uh ego pump
um
uh
shut up daddy you stupid fart face you
know being hit in the face fought over
and and generally abused is a daily
occurrence for me at home so
thank you for keeping me grounded boys i
love you so much and one day in
disguises maybe we'll sneak out here and
have a little photograph altogether
on daddy's star um but you're my little
stars and i adore you
um
yeah let be to quote hamlet thank you so
much have a wonderful day
and happy benedict cumberbatch days to
everyone i should say thank you to the
fans as well sorry a lot of this is to
do with people who are strangers and
have come out in hoards at various times
to support me
to cheer for me i thank you all
for following me on this journey lots of
love good night goodbye
[Music]
you