John Cleese says woke culture has a 'disastrous effect' on comedy

Monty Python icon John Cleese slams woke culture for having a ‘disastrous effect’ on creativity and ‘canceling comics’

• The star, 82, said comedians are too worried about offending people with jokes
• He says it has led to the ‘death of creativity’ because of the lack of freedom
• The Monty Python star said no comedian should ever be ‘canceled’ over a joke 

Monty Python star John Cleese has slammed woke culture for having a ‘disastrous’ effect on comedy.

The veteran funnyman, 82, said he does not believe comedians have the freedom to be funny anymore, blasting today’s cancel culture as the ‘death of creativity’.

The Fawlty Towers icon, who has worked in the comedy industry for decades, told FreedomFest in Las Vegas, as reported by Fox News, that the current crackdown on jokes which could be perceived as offensive is putting off young comedians.

In recent years, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais are among the stars who have been criticized for their material, although they are still among the highest-paid and most successful comedians in the world.

Cleese said: ‘I think it’s particularly worrying at the moment because you can only create in an atmosphere of freedom, where you’re not checking everything you say critically before you move on.

Monty Python star John Cleese has slammed woke culture for having a ‘disastrous’ effect on comedy

‘A lot of comedians now are sitting there and when they think of something, they say something like, “Can I get away with it? I don’t think so. So and so got into trouble, and he said that, oh, she said that.” You see what I mean? And that’s the death of creativity.’

Cleese acknowledged that his audience tends to be older and less sensitive to jokes that may cause offence to certain sections of society.

He added: ‘You can do the creation and then criticize it, but you can’t do them at the same time. So if you’re worried about offending people and constantly thinking of that, you are not going to be very creative. So I think it has a disastrous effect.’

The A Fish Called Wanda star said he believes no comedian should ever be ‘canceled’ for a joke, and taboo topics are often a source of humor.

In March, Cleese had his microphone confiscated at the South by Southwest festival panel in which he suggested Italy and France owed historic reparations for enslaving Brits.

Cleese acknowledged that his audience tends to be older and less sensitive to jokes that may cause offence to certain sections of society

The actor, 82, said he does not believe comedians have the freedom to be funny anymore, blasting today’s cancel culture as the ‘death of creativity’ (pictured in Monty Python)

The icon was riffing with other comics in front of the crowd in Texas when he talked about the ‘competition’ between cultures over who has been more oppressed by colonizers throughout history. 

Pointing to world history being ‘a history of crime’, he added: ‘It’s a history of people who were stronger beating up people who were weaker and it’s always been that. It’s deeply, deeply distasteful.

‘But to pretend that one lot were worse than another – you do know the British have been slaves twice, right?  

Cleese explained: ‘[People] get competitive about this business of being oppressed. We were oppressed, the English, by the Romans from about 0 to 400.’

Despite the event being labelled a ‘comedy panel’, his remarks sparked horrified reactions and an awkward environment for those in attendance.

At one stage Cleese even had his microphone confiscated by American comic Dulcé Sloan, who said she did it to ‘save a comic whose career I respect’, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

‘And now you saved the colonizer,’ Pasternack said. ‘I saved a comic whose career I respect,’ Sloan fired back.

Comedy legend John Cleese landed himself in hot water during his own event when he jokingly suggested Italy and France owed historic reparations for enslaving British people

The Monty Python icon, 82, drew shocked gasps from the South by Southwest crowd in Texas. He is pictured above (fourth from left) alongside moderator Dan Pasternack, and comics Dulce Sloan, Jim Gaffigan and Ricky Velez

Cleese rebutted claims that the British Empire was the first to colonise communities from other states throughout his 90-minute performance entitled ‘John Cleese in Conversation.’

The British comic insisted England was owed ‘reparations’ from both Italy and France, referring to the historic invasions of the Romans, and 1000 years later by the Normans under William the Conqueror.

‘I want reparations from Italy’, he told the stunned crowd. ‘And then the Normans came over in 1066… they were horrible people from France and they colonised us for 30 years and we need reparations there too, I’m afraid’.

His fellow comedians speaking at the event, Jim Gaffigan, Dulcé Sloan and moderator Dan Pasternack all unsuccessfully attempted to draw Cleese away from his rant.

Pasternack even explained to the audience at one point: ‘And this is why your phones are locked up’.

As tempers started to flare, Sloan grabbed out and temporarily confiscated Cleese’s microphone to cheers and applause from sections of the audience, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Dave Chappelle came under fire last year over jokes about trans people in his Netflix comedy show The Closer

Speaking after the ordeal, Cleese explained his actions by saying: ‘The thing is, I’m going to be dead soon. That’s why I’m in favor of global warming – I don’t want to be cold ever again’.

To which Pasternack jokingly replied: ‘Where you’re going you won’t be!’   

Other comedians have been chastised for their jokes, with Dave Chappelle coming under fire last year over jokes about trans people in his Netflix comedy show The Closer.

During the controversial special, he made one comment stating that ‘gender is a fact’, prompting Netflix staff to protest and mass outrage on social media against some of his jokes.

He also shared his backing for JK Rowling, who has also attracted criticism for her remarks about biological sex.

In the special, he stated that he does not hate transgender people, and tells a long anecdote about a trans woman comic, who he describes as a friend, who came to his defense in earlier entanglements with the community.

Chappelle added: ‘Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth. That is a fact.’

In the contentious special, Chappelle also joked that women today view transwomen the same way black people might view white women wearing blackface, and remarked that women are entitled to feel anger toward transwomen, since Caitlyn Jenner won Glamour magazine’s 2015 Woman of the Year award.

‘I’d be mad as sh*t if I was a woman,’ Chappelle said.

The star also joked about the anatomy of transwomen, joking that they lacked real female reproductive organs and that they did not have blood but ‘beet juice’.

The comments prompted calls for Netflix to take down the show, but boss Ted Sarandos told staff that ‘content on screen doesn’t translate to real-world harm’. 

Those who have criticized Chapelle’s jokes have specifically cited the physical danger faced by the trans community as a result of anti-trans ideology. 

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