'Dude, you verbally abused me!' Benedict Cumberbatch busted by fellow bike rider for apparently running red lights

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch was filmed becoming engaged in a heated exchange with a fellow cyclist in London last week, after allegedly running several red lights. Footage of the altercation was released across social media yesterday.

The subject of cyclists running red lights, and the way the issue is policed, is a perennial talking point, especially in big cities – where it often feeds into aggressive culture-war style conflicts between drivers and bikers – but this case does highlight how other cyclists often criticise fellow riders they see breaking the law.

The instantly recognisable award-winning actor was called out by a man observers have described as a ‘vigilante’ cyclist, who was infuriated after apparently spotting the Dr Strange star repeatedly riding his cargo bike through red lights and across a pedestrian crossing.

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The incident happened in rush hour on Tuesday, around 5.30pm, when an unknown cyclist, whose face remained covered throughout the argument, accused the 49-year-old actor of breaking the law. Observed by a number of bemused bystanders, Cumberbatch dismounted his bike and approached the man, who seemed surprised to see such a familiar face from stage and screen, but continued with his admonishment none-the-less.

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In the video footage of the ensuing altercation, Cumberbatch appears to admit running a red light, saying: “I did it once.” But the other cyclist is adamant that the Sherlock actor is a repeat offender, insisting: “And then you went through a zebra crossing, you went through three lights.”

Benedict denies this, but the other cyclist shouts: “You’re deluded, you’re lying. I was behind you the entire time.” To which Benedict replies: “Dude, you verbally abused me.”

The second cyclist then makes a sarcastic crying gesture and retorts: “Oh no, I verbally abused the guy who completely repeatedly broke the law.”

Following the bust up, which finally ends when the second cyclist rides away, Cumberbatch apparently stayed at the scene and posed for photographs with members of the public (which does rather suggest he wasn’t in much of a hurry in the first place).

The witness told the Daily Mail: “It was crazy. It was such a pompous road rage it almost felt like it had been staged. He was calling Benedict ‘deluded’ and ‘a liar’."

“Benedict still managed to charm everyone watching even though he was having a meltdown," they added. "They went at each other about five times.”

Back in 2019, Benedict Cumberbatch was involved in another well-reported bike-related altercation, when his car reportedly knocked a cyclist over on a country lane on the Isle of Wight. A year earlier, however, Cumberbatch played a real life hero's role, when he jumped out of a taxi and fought off four would-be muggers who were attempting to steal a delivery cyclist's bike.

Having recently clipped in as News & Features Writer for Cycling Weekly, Pat has spent decades in the saddle of road, gravel and mountain bikes pursuing interesting stories. En route he has ridden across Australia's Great Dividing Range, pedalled the Pirinexus route around the Catalan Pyrenees, raced through the Norwegian mountains with 17,000 other competitors during the Birkebeinerrittet, fatbiked along the coast of Wales, explored the trails of the Canadian Yukon under the midnight sun and spent umpteen happy hours bikepacking and cycle-touring the lost lanes and hidden bridleways of the Peak District, Exmoor, Dartmoor, North Yorkshire and Scotland. He worked for Lonely Planet for 15 years as a writer and editor, contributed to Epic Rides of the World and has authored several books.