Stephen Fry Falls Off Stage at Event in London and Taken to Hospital: 'Wishing Him a Swift Recovery'

According to a report, Fry was exiting the stage after speaking about AI at the CogX Festival in London when he fell six feet off the edge

Actor and President of the MCC Stephen Fry in the Royal Box during day nine of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 11, 2023
Stephen Fry at Wimbledon in London on July 11, 2023. Photo:

Visionhaus/Getty 

Stephen Fry took a tumble at an event in London last week.

A spokesperson for the technology conference CogX Festival confirms to PEOPLE in a statement that Fry had an "accident after giving his inspirational speech on the impact of AI."

The 66-year-old British actor, author and comedian's fall occurred as he was exiting the stage at The O2 venue on Thursday, The Daily Mail reports. He fell approximately six feet off the edge of the stage onto the floor, according to the outlet, which said Fry was taken to a hospital for treatment after sustaining leg and rib injuries.

Representatives for Fry did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Wednesday; the state of his current condition is not clear.

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Stephen Fry arrives at the National Portrait Gallery Re-Opening on June 20, 2023
Stephen Fry in London on June 20, 2023.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Adding that those behind the CogX Festival were "deeply concerned" about Fry's well-being, the group said in their statement, "We are thinking of him and wishing him a swift recovery."

"We have opened our own enquiry and until then we are not able to share any further details," the event's statement concluded.

Fry gave a speech about artificial intelligence (AI) at the event and, according to Fortune (via The Independent), gave an example of a historical documentary that used AI to recreate his voice for a narration without his permission.

“I said not one word of that — it was a machine,” he said. "Yes, it shocked me. They used my reading of the seven volumes of the Harry Potter books, and from that dataset, an AI of my voice was created and it made that new narration.”

“What you heard was not the result of a mash-up. This is from a flexible artificial voice, where the words are modulated to fit the meaning of each sentence," Fry added. "It could therefore have me read anything from a call to storm Parliament to hard porn, all without my knowledge and without my permission. And this, what you just heard, was done without my knowledge.”

The Blackadder alum has previously opened up about his health, including having his prostate removed after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“This was quite an aggressive little bugger,” Fry said in a February 2018 video. “As far as we know, it’s all been got. … I won’t know for sure until my PSA levels are checked. They should be 0 now because I have no prostate. But if there is anything left on the bed of the prostate, then I’ll need radiotherapy and the whole damn process will start again.”

While he was “feeling well and happy,” Fry added that “the rather unwelcome and unexpected adventure” had been hard on him.

Cancer, in the end, that’s a word that just rings in your head,” he said. “You’re not supposed to get cancer. I know it’s an old cliché, but you don’t think it’s going to happen to you. Cancer is something that happens to other people!”

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