Actor Benedict Cumberbatch cuts business ties Mahathir's son
PETALING JAYA : English actor Benedict Cumberbatch has severed business ties with Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's son.
Mr Mokhzani Mahathir, Dr Mahathir's second son, confirmed that it is because of his father's anti-Semitic remarks.
He said yesterday: "Ben has decided that being associated with me is the same as being associated with my father indirectly, so that's his prerogative.
"If he feels very strongly about whatever my father says and has concerns there could be repercussions because of that, that's his prerogative."
Mr Mokhzani was said to have invested £1 million (S$1.8 million) in the actor's company in return for shares via his company, Kencana Capital.
The company is involved in movies and television programmes.
Mr Mokhzani said he met Mr Cumberbatch when he came to Malaysia in 2014 as part of the Laureas Awards, before the English actor became his guest at the Formula One race in Sepang.
"After that, we kept in touch and he invited me to invest in his movie start-up company," he said. The company is called SunnyMarch productions.
Mr Cumberbatch is best-known for playing Sherlock Holmes on TV and Dr Stephen Strange in the movies Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War .
Mr Mokhzani said a Daily Mail columnist had called Mr Cumberbatch a few days ago to get his comments on Dr Mahathir's comments in an interview on BBC Hardtalk in October last year.
"The Hardtalk interviewer had referred to comments my father had made many, many years ago regarding that hooked nose, so that is taken as anti-Semitic," he said.
He added that Mr Cumberbatch did not want to be associated with anyone who had been labelled as such, as he was worried that there could be repercussions for SunnyMarch.
Mr Mokhzani said he will work towards trying to recoup his investment in the company.- THE STAR
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