--- title: Benedict Cumberbatch Punches Journalist for Keira Knightley description: Benedict protects Keira Knightley's good name. canonical: https://time.com/2843661/benedict-cumberbatch-punches-journalist/ author: Bijan Stephen article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-08T13:00:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:30.488Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Benedict Cumberbatch Punches Journalist For Keira Knightley og:description: Benedict protects Keira Knightley's good name. og:url: https://time.com/2843661/benedict-cumberbatch-punches-journalist/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Benedict Cumberbatch Punches Journalist For Keira Knightley twitter:description: Benedict protects Keira Knightley's good name. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Benedict Cumberbatch Punches Journalist for Keira Knightley by [Bijan Stephen](/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jun 8, 2014 1:00 PM CUT by [Bijan Stephen](/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jun 8, 2014 1:00 PM CUT Benedict Cumberbatch—the 37-year-old star of the BBC’s reboot of _Sherlock_, who’s also appeared in _12 Years A Slave_, _Atonement_, and _Orange: Osage County_ (not to mention his being chosen as one of [this year’s TIME 100](http://time.com/70781/benedict-cumberbatch-2014-time-100/ "undefined"))—is having a moment. His acting has won him widespread critical acclaim, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and a Britannia award. As it turns out, in addition to being an “[alarmingly talented actor](http://time.com/70781/benedict-cumberbatch-2014-time-100/ "undefined"),” he’s also a solid friend. Cumberbatch made [headlines](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/benedict-cumberbatch-punched-a-journalist-to-defend-keira-knightleys-honour-9499994.html "undefined") in the UK Friday, after he punched a journalist in the arm for badmouthing his buddy Keira Knightley. To _Elle_, Knightley said: --- > “” --- Keira, we totally agree. Benedict, would you be ours? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2843661/benedict-cumberbatch-punches-journalist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2843661/benedict-cumberbatch-punches-journalist/"},"headline":"Benedict Cumberbatch Punches Journalist for Keira Knightley","datePublished":"2014-06-08T13:00:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:30.488Z","description":"What a bro","url":"https://time.com/2843661/benedict-cumberbatch-punches-journalist/","keywords":["celebrities","Newsfeed","Benedict Cumberbatch"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bijan Stephen","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2843661/benedict-cumberbatch-punches-journalist/","name":"Benedict Cumberbatch Punches Journalist for Keira Knightley"}}]}] ```