Idris Elba wants to use his fame to speak up on knife crime: 'Just knock this s*** off!'
Idris Elba wants to use his platform to stop knife crime and thinks he can use his celebrity status to make a difference as figures continue to increase.
Idris Elba wants to use his platform to help stop knife crime.
The 51-year-old actor explained that while he cannot use his celebrity status to make a difference with global issues, he can and feels he "should" speak up on the topic of stabbings as the number of incidents continues to increase every year in London.
He told The Saturday Times: "One thing I’ve learnt from talking to some of the mums whose kids have been killed, is they give you a bag of the clothes your child was wearing the last time you saw them alive. The first time you saw them, they had no clothes on, the last time you see them, they haven’t any clothes on then either. But you weren’t there. And that image chills me. I’ve got a soap box not gifted to everyone.
"I can stand outside parliament and make a big stink without getting arrested. I think if you can speak up on something, you should. When you can effect change. It’s not like Putin will listen to me about Ukraine. But here, politicians may listen to me on knife crime. And [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak responded, [Labour leader] Keir Starmer responded, young people said, ‘Thank you, I’m carrying [a knife] and I don’t want to be.’”
The 'Beast' star - who has Isan, 22, and Winston, nine, with ex-wife Hanne Norgaard as well as a 31-year-old son whom he has never identified publicly - added that everyone is "involved" in bringing knife crime to an end and especially as a parent feels the need to "rant" about putting a stop to it.
He added: "I think we're all involved. I’m a citizen of our country. I’m a parent, with three kids. About four years ago, there was a young girl stabbed outside a Tube station. I was in my world, doing an interview for a film, and I saw this report … I put myself in their [the girl’s parents’] position, as an actor you often do. ‘Oh my God, that’s awful.'
"It’s Monday morning and last night [he mimes a police officer knocking on a front door], someone’s gotta hear that’. So I got on my Instagram and I had a rant, like ‘Woah! Young people! Just knock this s*** off.’”
