John Cleese Threatens to Leak Emails That Will Damage Eric Idle’s Credibility
Monty Python may be over, but Monty Python Twitter feuds seem to be never-ending.
We’ve talked before about how ex-Pythons John Cleese and Eric Idle have been dunking on each other on social media since at least 2011. And more recently, they’ve been beefing over the Pythons’ financial affairs, and the current management of the Python brand.
Well, unfortunately, their online antipathy is seemingly as bad as it's ever been, as evidenced by some of Cleese’s recent posts.
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The latest squabble seemingly began with Idle’s recent claim that he wasn’t notified about, or even aware of the new line of Monty Python stamps released by the U.K.’s Royal Mail. He then followed this up with a cryptic post implying that the rest of the group had self-sabotaged their own production company, which is in the process of being dissolved. Although he didn’t offer any details of his particular grievances.
Cleese, who, in spite of his best attempts, just can’t seem to quit Twitter/X, couldn’t help but weigh in on the matter. The Fawlty Towers star acknowledged that Idle has been “complaining” yet again about how “Python communications to him have been delayed.” He then addressed Python fans directly, informing them that Idle “refuses to accept any communications that are sent to him, except through his lawyers.”
“That slows it down a bit,” Cleese added.
Even more intense was his response to one of Idle’s defenders, who questioned Cleese’s credibility and judgement. “Do you realise you have no idea what you are talking about, dear man?” Cleese fired back. “Wait till you see the emails.”
Things have definitely been heated between the two in the past, but threatening to leak private correspondence in order to prove the other wrong certainly feels like an escalation. And if you think that the 85-year-old Cleese isn’t tech savvy enough to figure out how to share his emails with fans, clearly you’re not aware that he was at the forefront of the personal computer revolution. Or at least, he was at the forefront of advertising them.
As of writing, Idle has yet to respond to Cleese’s testy posts on his account. But given their history of back-and-forth public spats over Monty Python’s business affairs, it seems highly doubtful that this will be the end of the matter.
A word of advice: If any of you ever get the chance to meet Cleese, don’t mention the war… between him and Eric Idle.
