John Cleese weighs in on Eric Idle’s ‘Monty Python is dead’ comments
John Cleese has responded to some recent comments from former Monty Python co-star Eric Idle.
The pair were part of the famous comic troupe alongside Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, known for their TV sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus as well as films such as Life Of Brian.
In a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph, Idle spoke about taking a greater share of the royalties from musical Spamalot, which is based on the Monty Python film The Holy Grail.
“I think I have more business sense. I think they’re not very good at it, a lot of them,” he told the publication, while also addressing Cleese’s previous claim that they “always loathed and despised each other”.
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Today is my publication day in the UK. I hope you like and enjoy the book I spent five years on. That’s what I’m doing. Python is dead.
— Eric Idle (@EricIdle) September 10, 2026
“I think it might be what he secretly feels,” Idle said in the new interview. “We’ve been good friends from time to time. I’ve things that I’m grateful to him for… seeing I was funny, and putting me in a show. And then being supportive of me many times in his life, and then suddenly deciding…
“I don’t know what happened, I felt it happening during Covid, and I called him up… and then he was getting more and more angry. I don’t know. It’s like, they all got angry about Spamalot. You go, ‘Excuse me, I made you all a million fucking dollars each… when you’ve paid that back, we can talk.’”
Idle also declared in a recent post on X/Twitter that “Python is dead”, while also saying “no thanks” to the idea from one fan of having “one last hurrah” with the group.
Responding to Idle’s latest comments in a post on X, Cleese said: “[Eric] Idle is complaining once again about the Pythons not being grateful for the royalties they received from Spamalot.”
He then claimed: “Bearing [in] mind that Eric has made at least 16 million dollars from the show, while Michael, Terry, Graham and I made just over a million each for writing ALL the iconic comedy scenes, maybe the gratitude should be coming in the other direction.”
Eris Idle is complaining once again about the Pythons not being grateful for the royalties they received from
SpamalotBearing mind that Eric has made at least 16 million dollars from the show, while Michael,Terry, Graham and I made just over a million each for writing ALL the…
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 13, 2026
In a series of further posts, Cleese also defended manager Holly Gilliam, daughter of Terry, whom Idle has previously blamed for decreasing finances.
Responding to Cleese’s post, Idle wrote on X in response to one fan asking to “spill the beans”, sharing: “No – it’s unseemly and upsets the fans. Plus a one way feud is better known as bullying.”
No – it’s unseemly and upsets the fans. Plus a one way feud is better known as bullying. https://t.co/dbTbFujzs0
— Eric Idle (@EricIdle) September 14, 2026
Idle had previously claimed he was not “loaded” despite previous success with the group, writing on X in 2024: “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”
He added: “We own everything we ever made in Python and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously.”
Cleese then responded with his “loathed and despised” comments, adding that “it’s only recently that the truth has begun to emerge”.
He then wrote of Holly: “I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with”, before claiming: “Michael Palin has asked me to make it clear that he shares this opinion. Terry Gilliam is also in agreement with this.”
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