The family of Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch may be asked to make reparations payments due to their previous ties to a Barbados sugar plantation, as per The Telegraph.
As part of an effort to obtain compensation for slavery, the Caribbean nation of Barbados is beginning to focus on the rich ancestors of slave owners.
According to The Guardian, the National Task Force on Reparations in Barbados, a division of the Caricom Reparations Commission (Caricom), had previously requested reparations from rich institutions and colonial powers that had profited greatly from slavery.
The British Conservative MP Richard Drax was called out for the first time recently because his family controls a huge sugar plantation on the island, according to The Guardian.
David Comissiong, the vice chairman of the state task committee and the ambassador of Barbados to Caricom, warned The Guardian last month that Drax and other families might be sued if they refuse to make reparations.
He told the newspaper, “It is currently a topic that is before the government of Barbados. At the highest level, it is being handled.
The Cumberbatch family could now be the object of a reparations action. The Telegraph questioned Commissioner about whether Cumberbatch’s family would be targeted, and Commissioner did not rule it out.
