Benedict Cumberbatch severs business ties with Mahathir Mohamad’s son Mokhzani over leader’s anti-Semitic comments

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s company has cut business ties with Mokhzani Mahathir over anti-Semitic remarks made by his father, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, local media reported.

In an interview with the BBC last October, Mahathir described Jews as “hook-nosed” and blamed them for troubles in the Middle East.

“If you are going to be truthful, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel. That is an old truth. But I cannot say that,” he said on BBC’s Hard Talk.

The 93-year-old politician – who in May last year became premier for the second time after his coalition claimed a shock election victory – also expressed scepticism over the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust, saying the figure was four million rather than six million.

Cumberbatch learned of the statements after a Daily Mail reporter contacted him for his response several days ago, Mokhzani told Malaysian website The Star Online.

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Mokhzani, who in 2014 invested £1 million (US$1.3 million) in Cumberbatch’s media company SunnyMarch Holdings, said the Doctor Strange and Sherlock Holmes star did not want to be associated with the incident in any way.

The actor told the Daily Mail he was “shocked and disappointed” about Mahathir’s remarks, which he found “abhorrent and unacceptable”. He told the paper he was in the process of severing business ties with Mokhzani.

Mokhzani said he met Cumberbatch when the star visited Malaysia in 2014 for the Laureas Awards. “After that, we kept in touch and he invited me to invest in his movie start-up company,” he said.

The second son of Mahathir did not seem overly upset at the breakdown in business relations.

“Ben has decided that being associated with me is the same as being associated with my father indirectly, so that’s his prerogative,” he said.