John Cleese, the legend of Monty Python, informed the BBC that he would never work for them again because they would fire him within five minutes.
Cleese, 82, stated that he would decline any offers from the firm because he feared it would either instantly censor or fire him.
Ironically, the creator of Fawlty Towers was speaking to the BBC on Radio 4’s Today program when he made the comments.
He stated, “The BBC has not approached me to ask if I would like some one-hour shows, and if they did, I would tell them no.”
“I wouldn’t make it through five minutes of my debut program before I was cancelled or edited.”
Cleese, an ardent critic of woke culture, will co-host a show on GB News alongside comedian Andrew Doyle.
The 82-year-old Monty Python star stated he would decline a return to the BBC if asked.
Monty Python And The Holy Grail, starring John Cleese and Eric Idle as their respective characters.
When asked about his views on the limitations of free speech, he told host Amol Rajan, “Someone once told me, ‘Everyone supports free speech, especially for the ideas they like.’”
Then, in response to the question of whether free speech should extend to individuals who promote ideas and falsehoods regarding public health issues, he said, ‘If there is a factual response to anything like that, then it should be made.
“That’s the role, to put the facts out there, and then to have opinions slightly distinct and have a proper debate about it, but not to try to dodge a public debate and get yourself through social media.”
When asked about his personal views and whether he was a member of the Liberal Democrats or the Social Democratic Party, John Cleese responded, “No, because I find the entire situation to be such a muddled jumble.”
He stated, “After that horrible Brexit debate, when I felt our country had gone to the lowest intellectual level I can recall, I lost interest.”
The Monty Python actor said, ‘I reside in hotel rooms. I spend 10 months of the year in hotel rooms, thus I am interested in many political issues worldwide. However, I do not believe this country to be in a decent state at the time.
The 82-year-old Monty Python icon shocked the South by Southwest crowd in Texas. Above, he is photographed with moderator Dan Pasternack and comedians Dulce Sloan, Jim Gaffigan, and Ricky Velez (fourth from left).
The 82-year-old actor stated that he no longer believes comedians have the freedom to be funny, describing the cancellation culture of today as the “death of creativity” (pictured in Monty Python)
In reality, I believe the last three Conservative administrations have been increasingly terrible.
In July, Cleese criticized the ‘catastrophic’ impact of woke culture on comedy.
He stated at FreedomFest in Las Vegas that he no longer believes comedians have the freedom to be funny, describing the cancellation culture of today as the “death of creativity.”
Cleese remarked, “I believe it’s particularly worrisome at the time because you can only create in an environment of freedom, where you don’t evaluate everything you say before moving on.”
When pondering an idea, a large number of contemporary comedians ask themselves, “Can I get away with it? I don’t believe so. Someone else went into problems, and he said, oh, she said. ‘ Do you get my meaning? And that is the end of imagination.’
In March, Cleese’s microphone was removed during a panel at the South by Southwest festival where he stated that Italy and France deserved historical reparations for enslaving British citizens.
Indicating that world history is ‘a history of criminality,’ he added, ‘It’s always been the case that those who were stronger beat up those who were weaker. It is extremely, extremely nasty.
“But to imply that one group was worse than another – you are aware that the British were slaves twice, aren’t you?
Cleese observed, “[P]eople get competitive regarding this business of oppression.” The Romans oppressed the English from around 0 to 400.
Even though the event was billed as a “comedy panel,” his words provoked outrage and created an uneasy setting for those in attendance.