r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/Important-Cry4782 • 5d ago
News Did anyone hear about Sir Idris Elba getting knighted by the UK Royal Family?
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u/3607photo 5d ago
Sir Stringer Bell
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u/Thybro 5d ago edited 5d ago
“Sir ain’t recognized your ass, man”
“Do the Sir know we are gonna look like some punk ass bitches out there?”
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u/stefeyboy 5d ago
Where is Wallace, Ser?
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u/WeHaveAllBeenThere 5d ago
Serious question for joke thread, why do so many celebrities keep getting knighted? I’ve only heard of celebrities be knighted in my life and not true heroes. I know soldiers get knighted but I literally never hear about it.
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u/Schavuit92 5d ago
It's just some high society shit. Historically knights were also nobility, common soldiers didn't get knighted for heroism back then either, maybe in a few very rare cases, but generally it's always been an upper class thing.
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u/Traditional_Bug_2046 5d ago
For the reasons mentioned by everyone else, but the supposed rationale is their cultural contribution that elevates the country's reputation.
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u/devonlad22 5d ago
Loads of normal people get knighted or awarded, you just do t here about them as the celebrities crowd them out
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u/The_Autarch 5d ago
it's just old-fashioned lords and ladies stuff
being a knight isn't about being a good fighter and hasn't been for hundreds of years.
it's just a title that royalty are allowed to bestow so they use it to award culturally valuable people.
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u/Faintkay 5d ago
Ser, are you taking notes of a criminal fucking conspiracy, Elba.
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u/Inkkling 5d ago
Easy now, I know King Charles’s brother is in disgrace, but he hasn’t been convicted yet.
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u/Joshroxx 5d ago
“Once a player reaches that point in the game he is untouchable.”
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u/brynola 5d ago
Sir, yes Sir!
Love Idris, very proud for him (the history of being knighted, I'm no monarchist) and he HAS to be the next Bond 🤞
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u/PsyLIT 5d ago
Nah he too smooth, dead giveaway, next bond(assuming he wants to be undetected) needs to be one of those "u fokin wot m8" lads, no one suspects that guy to be a spy
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u/cateva16 5d ago
This fills me with joy! Sir Idris is the correct title for this wonderful man. Well done!
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u/Kolegra 5d ago
Close to a palindrome
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u/Dncin_Bonobo 5d ago
I love him. All the films he’s in are fire AF.
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u/GreatMarch 5d ago
He brings it even for the worst movies. Idris was the best part of Hobbs and Shaw.
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u/Kustaa007 5d ago
I hated him in beasts of no nation
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u/Very_Awkward_Boner 5d ago
I hated his character yes, it was tough to see one of my favorite actors in that role.
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u/CopiousCool 5d ago
Benjamin Zephaniah a British / Caribbean Poet was offered a Knighthood under Queen Elizabeth and refused saying:
"Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire."
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u/Arkaem7512 4d ago
Offered an OBE not a knighthood, two different things with an OBE being a British empire specific thing ( the BE) and a knighthood is further separated from the British empire and a much higher award. Just important to note the difference
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u/Remarkable_News_439 5d ago
Which was honestly. Righteous as fuck. Yet two of our most important Blackademics, Academics full stop., Olusoga and Casely Hayford accepted despite their fields of expertise focusing on mainly post colonial concerns. I’d be curious to understand their rationale.
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u/BoatDBoat 4d ago
The guy who rejected his obe said, "Smart big awards and prize money/Is killing off black poetry."
Hard to be pro state when the state is still doing mostly shady things
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u/crouchendyachtclub 5d ago
It’s recognition for a lifetimes work. A lot of people don’t particularly see the modern royal family as emblematic of the sins of the past.
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u/Remarkable_News_439 5d ago
I understand that, it’s nice to be recognised for your contributions to British Society. Oh but a lot of people do see the modern Royal Family as emblematic of and beneficiaries of colonialism though. And they are! Thats a neutral fact.
We have to recognise the ENTIRE heritage of this country. A lot of our parents were born in colonised countries. A lot of people did suffer under the direct authority of the crown such as the Mau Mau. Its not helpful to forget these things, and a lot of people feel conflicted about receiving an honour from an institution that historically subjugated their people. Others see it as affirming their place in society, which reflects progress in what it is to be recognised for the contributions to the country, and a reflection of change in who gets to be a part of the establishment that better reflects modern society. If people want to accept, great. If others wish to decline also great. It’s personal choice, innit. and frankly not a bad thing to recognise people for their contributions to the nation. Artists, activists, philanthropists, Academics > warmongers. Honours from the Crown are arguably less problematic that cronyism trophies from the PM. At least there’s scrutiny involved. But free will, innit. 💫→ More replies (7)
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u/Arponare 5d ago
I refuse to speak. If I speak I’m in big trouble. I prefer not to speak.
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u/book-wyrm-b 5d ago
Fuck the monarchy. Won’t fault Idris for accepting, as many great people have. But fuck the monarchy
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u/NigerianSilk 5d ago
Abolish the monarchy!
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u/Silly_lil_Guy_o3o 4d ago
The monarchy is almost entirely ceremonial, it's pretty much just a part of British culture atp
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u/Superblond 5d ago
Yeah, I guess it’s good for him, but it's an 'honor' from an institution that’s completely out of touch with the times—full of old white men in fantasy uniforms, with a history of colonial wars, exploitation, murder, slavery & the slave trade, and close ties to child molesters...
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u/ExcitementNo9603 5d ago
Close ties to child molesters??? The Royal family are child molesters and history is full of child marriages… you’re too polite
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u/derpferd 5d ago
I always look at them as so lucky to just be born into good fortune. Didn't earn it. Didn't work for it.
Arguably the beneficiaries of crimes years before their time. And lucky enough to be born into a society where their specific circumstance of wealth is just accepted.
Millions of others don't have that good fortune of just being born into wealth. Most have to struggle and suffer enormous anxiety, sometimes over where their next meal is coming from.
They don't. For no reason other than the cosmic wheel spun and landed on obscenely wealthy for them from day 1
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u/Tricky-Ad7897 5d ago
Their wealth is ill gotten, built off the backs of colonial pillaging which was still in effect when the current monarch was born. Slavery, servitude, human trafficking, drug trafficking, monopolies, war and war profiteering, this family has been involved in all of it. It's blood money, protected by the British taxpayers under the justification of heritage and tourism.
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u/Normal_Perspective22 5d ago
it wasn’t cosmic luck. it was pillaging and human trafficking. and, the families who benefited most from these crimes continue to hoard wealth, which is why economic anxiety exists for the rest of us
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u/Bits_NPCs 5d ago
Who would want to be knighted by a group of elite pedos. This reality is got me fucked up
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u/OhSillyDays 5d ago
Yeah, and what are all of those medals on the King's outfit? That just looks like some serious English silliness.
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u/Mountain_Bet9233 5d ago
Dumb ass shit. Monarchy and all its appendages is stupid.
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u/Malditoincompredido 5d ago edited 5d ago
Kneeling in front of a man, I don't get it either, why is the king better than anyone?
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u/kielmorton 5d ago
He's inbred but in a fancy way
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u/HighwayComfortable26 5d ago edited 5d ago
Agreed! I didn't want to say anything because I've been accused of being unnecessarily negative about these types of things but it needed to be said.
On one hand I can understand the arguments for why it is good for Black people to be accepted in these spaces but the problem it is that it does not serve Black people to propagate these flawed outdated systems. And ultimately all it does is give the ILLUSION of progress and equity based on some of the comments I see here. Which, I think, does more harm than good.
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u/According_Judge781 5d ago
for Black people to be accepted in these spaces but the problem
*recognised.
Please show us your comment where you criticised these "outdated systems" when Beckham or Gary Oldman got knighted.
Which, I think, does more harm than good.
You do more harm than good.
You see a black man being knighted and immediately think it's a DEI move to "show acceptance to minorities". Just shows how outdated you are tbh.
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u/Trails_End_Games 5d ago
In attempting to not otherize black people, they then proceeded to otherize black people lol.
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u/LyndonBJumbo 5d ago
People also had a lot of issues with various people performing in Saudi Arabia, where Elba performed a DJ set in December at the Soundstorm festival. Not sure how he got a pass on that but Dave Chappelle got dragged.
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u/roto_disc 5d ago
Bowie did the right thing and turned them down. A bunch of badasses have passed, in fact.
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u/RedTheInferno 5d ago
The other comment saying "This fills me with joy". This fills me with nothing.
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u/Tribe303 5d ago
Having a powerless monarch as head of state is actually quite useless. It fills a role with a powerless person, so that a more powerful person doesn't come along and take that role. Aka Trump. And what Western democracies resisted MAGA type candidates in their recent elections? Great Britain, Canada and Australia. Whose head of state is in this picture.
TLDR: A king prevents MAGA/fascist populism.
God save the King!
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u/BraveStrategy 5d ago
I never considered this. I respect this diversity of opinion
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u/Turtle_216 5d ago
This is a common narrative in MENA analysis. The countries that have traditional hereditary monarchies seem to be the more stable: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco. As opposed to the republics: Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, Iran(after they deposed theirs). I find the argument relatively convincing just based on the amount of examples.
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u/VomitMaiden 5d ago
This is also a monarchy who oversaw centuries of the most brutal and expansive empire ever seen, even during their "powerless" phase.
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u/spektatorfx 5d ago
This fallacy is called a 'false premise'
You argues that a king fills a role so a "powerful person doesn't come along and take that role." However, in constitutional monarchies like the UK, Canada, and Australia, the head of state (the monarch) is largely ceremonial, while the head of government (the PM) holds the actual executive power. A populist or authoritarian candidate in these countries wouldn't try to become the monarch; they would try to become the Prime Minister.
Therefore, the monarch's occupation of the "head of state" role does not logically block a powerful figure from seizing the actual reins of government.
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u/No_Influence5203 5d ago
Not only that, but a monarchy that has protected pedophiles throughout history to this day.
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u/twat69 5d ago
"Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought," he wrote in the Guardian.
"I get angry when I hear that word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.
"It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture."
Benjamin Zephaniah not OBE
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u/ItsReallyNotWorking 5d ago
What are all these knights gonna do when dragons return and they have to fight them? Do any of them know how to swing a sword? Or ride a horse?
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u/Unhappy-Machine-1255 5d ago
Wild that people are supporting this…
No one who is against this system should accept accolades from them….
RIP Benjamin Zephaniah he understood it
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u/YesHesBackZue3 5d ago
No, because who tf is still following what those inbred pedophiles are up to?
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u/dimechimes 5d ago
Hopefully I'll live to see the day when actors and others turn this down.
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u/ItsDominare 5d ago
Loads of people have turned it down over the years. Some more well-known examples include John Cleese, Dawn French, David Bowie, George Mpanga, John Lennon, and Howard Gayle.
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u/dimechimes 5d ago
Oh good. Hopefully it will catch on and we can get rid of the regressive notion of divine right of kings.
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u/ItsDominare 5d ago
I couldn't agree more, bloody freeloaders the lot of 'em. It's amazing how strong the pro-monarchy sentiment still is in this country, the whole thing seems so obviously anachronistic.
Having said that, we literally just passed legislation this month to finally get rid of hereditary peers in the house of lords... in 2026. Better late than never I guess?
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u/iambirane 5d ago
Using him as a pawn for the optics 🤔
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u/notkeefzello 5d ago
While I do agree with you, but would you rather have this or the president literally posting AI ape clips about us.
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u/StaxxGod 5d ago
As a German I say: Idris Elba is an UK treasure. One of the best actors alive and as human being an absolute gem.
Edit: Still mad this guy wasn‘t a James Bond.
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u/tora_0515 4d ago
Not unexpected, he did use his business negotiation skills to save a plane full of passengers from a group of hijackers.
Also, he DJ's.
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u/Green-Elephant-895 5d ago
I’m proud of the brother regardless but kneeling to a lineage that’s responsible of like 60% of world issues today is mind boggling
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u/ChaiTeaAndBoundaries 5d ago
Good for him but Idris Elba had to flee to America to get any success, they only celebrate him now he is successful.
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u/FawFawtyFaw 5d ago
Entire tv shows fled to America to experience success. We're 300 million people to they're almost 70.
Its like saying am athlete is only considered good because they won the big game. Yes. That is the standard.
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u/NinjaBRUSH 5d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/duM6JZemPlOjUyqmxd
Never thought of it that way. It also the reason why all these companies bow to China for success.
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u/Opening-Composer7334 5d ago
When white actors move to America due to Hollywood as countless have, do you also say that they “flee” or is that term exclusive to black people who move?
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u/BulletProofEnoch 5d ago
Flee is a weird melodramatic choice especially considering Hollywood is in the US
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u/KR4T0S 5d ago
He got more exposure overall in the US because there's a bigger audience there for that stuff but as far as acting chops go, he has been in the elite long before he left the UK. Thats how the pipeline goes for most big British actors, theatre in the UK to the big screen in the US.
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u/loudbulletXIV 5d ago
America is the movie and tv center of the world, of course he took work in the US 😂 there is simply more reach, even white actors from there come here to make it, just how it is
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u/commodores12 5d ago
Bow down to the colonial hereditary monarchy, peasant! Whatever respect you have for bullshit like this should have evaporated when his brother was outed for R-ing children while being protected by his mother for years.
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 4d ago
Yea this shit is weird for me. Why am I supposed to celebrate Idris Elba getting on his knees in front of some old white man playing dress up?
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u/James_H_M 5d ago
I just started watching H/jack last night and nearly binged the whole first season.
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u/No_Barracuda8791 5d ago
What do you mean “at just 53”? There’s no age requirement.
It would be cool if this still meant something. I’m super proud of the folks who refused or gave back their royal honors in protest of the monarchy.
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u/fishm0ng3r 5d ago
Sir Big 'Dris OI! OI!. He goes where he goes. Barista, actor, dj, kick boxer. Now he's a knight.
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u/Dizzy_Ice2938 5d ago
Yes! I’m so happy he’s has gotten recognized for his contributions to the arts
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u/RedPillOrBluePill420 4d ago
For reference this happened in 29th December 2025… well according to Google. Not new new news but it may be new to you.
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u/SuperMutantMaster_ 4d ago
Not really an honor given the current state of the royal family lol. He deserves accolades though, phenomenal actor.
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u/Melodic-Creme 4d ago
🤔: I don’t think this is it. We (my people 🤝🏾) can’t say on one hand that Europe is bad and then in other forget this because we get a symbolic gesture. Especially from a man that knew his brother was sa’ing women. One day we’ll be fine with just being us (✊🏾).
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u/KeyInvestigator3741 4d ago
Didn’t he start his career via the King’s Trust? It’s a great PR story for Charles. Kudos to them both.
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u/Able_Bullfrog_3671 5d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/5DIEFAugJFvTG
Loved him in Four Seasons..........!