Benedict Cumberbatch Takes To Vanity Fair To Call Out His 'Obsessive' Fan Base For 'Stalking' Him

It’s no secret some fans can take their admiration a little too far!
In the November issue of Vanity Fair, Benedict Cumberbatch opened up on the perils of fame and the internet’s ongoing obsession with his persona. The candid convo comes on the heels of scary celebrity incidents, like Gigi Hadid‘s run in with prankster Vitalii Sediuk to Ally Brooke Hernandez‘s assault by a crazed fan in Mexico.
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While Cumberbatch hasn’t encountered any terrifying incidents similar to Gigi or Ally’s (phew!), he’s still bothered by fans who’ve elevated their fandom into “stalking.” We imagine the Sherlock Holmes star is referring to overzealous members of Twitter‘s “Cumberb*tches” or the Cumberb*tch group on Reddit.
According to the actor, the “deluded” nature of his fans reached a hilt after his son was born in June of 2015.
Benedict went on to lament:

“There are people who believe that my wife is a P.R. stunt and my child is a P.R. stunt. think really it’s to do with the idea that the ├óΓé¼╦£Internet’s boyfriend’ can’t actually belong to anyone else but the Internet. It’s impossible he belongs to anyone but me. And that’s what stalking is. That’s what obsessive, deluded, really scary behavior is.”

Well, this is a common pitfall of celebrity life. It’s easy to fictionalize a human being when you don’t know them!
Despite the “scary” nature of some fans, B.C. is happy to provide the internet with some levity once in a while.
When the interviewer brought up a tweet from a fan who said they imagined a “shirtless” Benedict “slowly eating an apple fritter” to cheer themselves up, the 40-year-old responded:

“I’m glad I’m bringing a ray of sunshine to an otherwise dull day, being imagined eating fritters shirtless. But, I don’t know, it makes me giggle. I don’t look at myself in the mirror and go, ├óΓé¼╦£Yeah, absolutely! I see what they’re saying!’ I see all my faults and everything that I’ve always seen as my faults.”

It’s all about balance, Benny! We’re glad you can take some comments with a grain of salt — you’re dearly adored for better or worse!
So, do YOU think the Cumberb*tches have taken their fandom too far?
[Image via Vanity Fair.]