John Cleese has spoken out after his former Monty Python co-star Eric Idle took shots at both himself and Terry Gilliam.
Over the weekend, Eric made headlines when he lamented on social media that he still needed to work to earn money at the age of 80.
“I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded,” he wrote on X. “[Monty] Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”
When one fan responded with concern, the comedian responded: “We own everything we ever made in Python and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously.
“But I guess if you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.”
Eric went on to say he’d not seen John Cleese “for seven years”, and when a fan claimed this “made me sad”, the comic insisted: “Why. It makes me happy.”
The Fawlty Towers creator had his say on Tuesday afternoon, writing on X: “We always loathed and despised each other, but it’s only recently that the truth has begun to emerge.”
He later jumped to the defence of Terry Giliam’s daughter Holly, who has managed the Monty Python brand for around a decade.
“I have worked with Holly for the last ten years, and I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard- working, and pleasant to have dealings with,” he wrote.
“Michael Palin has asked me to to make it clear that he shares this opinion Terry Gilliam is also in agreement with this.”
The Monty Python comedy troupe formed in the late 1960s, made up of members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
In 2015, the remaining members of the group came together for a string of concerts, billed as the last ever outing of Monty Python, at London’s O2 Arena.