JUST DON’T MENTION THE CULTURE WAR: John Cleese ‘blacklists’ himself from Cambridge Union talk because of ‘woke rules’ after students made ‘Stalinist’ list of banned speakers amid row over art historian’s Hitler impression.
Monty Python star John Cleese says he is ‘blacklisting’ himself from a Cambridge Union event after the debating society banned a historian for performing an impression of Adolf Hitler.
The comedian, 82, who famously impersonated the Nazi dictator in a Monty Python sketch, and again in Fawlty Towers, said he is ‘blacklisting’ himself ‘before someone else does’.
His comments come after Keir Bradwell, the student president of the 200-year-old Cambridge Union, emailed members on Monday to inform them he was setting up a list of banned speakers.
The list, dubbed as ‘Stalinist’ by critics, includes Andrew Graham-Dixon — an art historian who offended students with a Nazi impersonation last week.
Taking to Twitter, Cleese, who was due to speak to students on Friday, wrote: ‘I was looking forward to talking to students at the Cambridge Union this Friday, but I hear that someone there has been blacklisted for doing an impersonation of Hitler.
‘I regret that I did the same on a Monty Python show, so I am blacklisting myself* before someone else does.’
In a follow-up tweet, the comedian, who studied at Cambridge, added: ‘I apologise to anyone at Cambridge who was hoping to talk with me, but perhaps some of you can find a venue where woke rules do not apply.’
At the start of the month, “Terry Gilliam’s Into the Woods cancelled by Old Vic after reports of staff unease,” The BBC reported:
The show was due to run next spring at the prestigious venue, whose artistic director is Matthew Warchus.
Stephen Sondheim, the writer of Into the Woods, was said to have approved the production because he was impressed with Gilliam’s proposed treatment.
But after the show was announced, it is understood some staff expressed concern about Gilliam’s views on issues such as the Me-too movement, diversity and trans rights.Gilliam has previously described the MeToo movement as a “witch hunt”, adding there were many “decent people” who were “getting hammered” as the industry grappled with sexual abuse.
Several allegations were made against the Old Vic’s former artistic director Kevin Spacey as part of the MeToo movement, which began in late 2017.
Last year, Gilliam told The Independent he was “tired of white men being blamed for everything wrong with the world”. In the same interview he said: “When I announce that I’m a black lesbian in transition, people take offence at that. Why?”
He also recently defended the comedian Dave Chappelle, whose most recent comedy special included comments deemed by some to be transphobic.
In August, the Daily Wire reported: ‘Woke Generation Is Rewriting Rules On What Can Be Said:’ Legendary Monty Python Actor To Release Series On Cancel Culture.
Hopefully his fellow Python member will join Cleese to discuss his own story.
As Jordan Peterson, tweeted at the time, “They cancelled Terry Gilliam, folks. Of Monty Python. The funniest group of people in the English speaking world.”
Related: John Cleese morphed into Theodore Dalrymple so slowly, I hardly even noticed.
* And Roger Simon as well.
(Via Small Dead Animals.)