‘Put the knives down – it’s dumb’: Idris Elba, 46, begs ‘stupid’ thugs to stop stabbing each other over ‘beef’ as he takes aim at Britain’s knife crime epidemic in impassioned Instagram video
- Luther star posted Instagram video begging youngsters to stop knife crime
- Actor and DJ, 46, said teens may as well ‘stab themselves’ as it would ruin future
- Idris Elba called for fellow entertainers to spread message with their platforms
Idris Elba has begged ‘stupid’ thugs to stop stabbing each other over petty arguments in an impassioned Instagram video.
The Luther star, 46, took to the social media app to take aim at knife-wielding youngsters after six people were murdered across the capital in just a week.
In a black-and-white selfie video, the actor and DJ urged teenagers using the weapons to ‘stab themselves’ instead of others because they are stabbing their futures in doing so.
He went on to say that fellow entertainers should use their own platforms to spread the message in a bid to tackle Britain’s knife crime epidemic.
Elba, who was given an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours for services to drama, said: ‘Knife crime is not new.
Luther star Idris Elba, pictured in November, has begged ‘stupid’ thugs to stop stabbing each other over petty arguments in an impassioned Instagram video
In a black-and-white selfie video , the actor and DJ urged teenagers using the weapons to ‘stab themselves’ instead of others because they are stabbing their futures in doing so
‘I grew up in the 80s and there was knife crime back then between blacks and whites and now it’s definitely between young black men in small tiny communities. And it’s affecting everyone.
‘We all look stupid. You look even more stupid if you’ve got a knife or you know someone that’s got a knife tell them to stab themselves. Right now. Trust me.
‘Because you’re just gonna stab your future if you go and stab someone else.
‘You become a murderer, you go to prison, you ain’t got s***. For what? For some beef that lives within your community. You need to see past that.’
Elba shared the video with a caption detailing the number of knife-related offences in London between 2010 and 2018, to demonstrate that it is not a ‘new’ problem.
In the clip, he continued: ‘We have to say something about this. Entertainers that are out there, there’s young people that look up to us, we need to vocalise this. Send a message out there: Put the knives down. It’s dumb.
‘We don’t need to be killing ourselves, we have so much more to offer. And you’re gonna kill your future, you’re gonna kill someone else’s future and it’s dumb.
Elba, who was given an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours for services to drama, said: ‘You become a murderer, you go to prison, you ain’t got s***. For what? For some beef that lives within your community. You need to see past that’
‘Entertainers do me a favour, put out similar videos let’s try and put out something and say that we care for our communities.
‘Let’s stop the knife crime please.’
He also added that the community needed to make noise about the stabbing epidemic to protect the living.
Elba wrote: ‘So many Mothers/Fathers have had to bury their CHILDREN and FAMILY due to stabbings. This is happening to black young kids/men doing it to ourselves.
‘We wear the same skin but yet we act like we hate that skin, our identity. It’s dumb. It’s getting worse. We OURSELVES need to step up for these kids. Waiting for the Police to do something isn’t a REAL solution, WE cannot WAIT for that.’
Elba’s plea comes after a 17-year-old who dreamed of being a barrister was knifed to death in west London yesterday afternoon.
Ayub Hassan was fatally stabbed near a Waitrose by West Kensington tube station at around 2pm in what is said to have been the fourth attempt on his life.
A local businessman said he was knifed three times in the chest.