John Cleese has hit back at former Monty Python co-star Eric Idle after he slammed the group’s management over its financial difficulties.
Idle, 80, blamed manager Holly Gilliam, daughter of Python co-founder Terry Gilliam, for the dwindling finances of the comedy troupe, which was formed in 1969. In a post on X, he wrote: “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 surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.“I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.” But Cleese, 84, who founded the troupe alongside Idle, Gilliam, Terry Jones, Sir Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, defended Ms Gilliam.
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He wrote on X: “I have worked with Holly for the last 10 years, and I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant. Michael Palin has asked me to make it clear that he shares this opinion. Terry Gilliam is also in agreement with this.” An X user asked Cleese if he had fallen out with Idle, to which he responded: “We always loathed and despised each other.”
(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Monty Python was one of the UK’s best-known comedy troupes, rising to prominence with the sketch series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which ran on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. The group followed their TV work by making a series of films, including 1975’s Monty Python And The Holy Grail, 1979’s Life Of Brian, and 1983’s The Meaning Of Life. Idle later created the medieval musical Spamalot, which earned a Tony award for best musical after being on Broadway.
(Image: Getty Images)
He also appeared in Shrek The Third, and in Monty Python Live (Mostly) in 2014 alongside some of the troupe.Chapman died of tonsil cancer in 1989, aged 48, while Jones died from a rare form of dementia in 2020, aged 77. Idle’s daughter Lily, a writer and photographer living in Los Angeles, has since praised her father for finally sharing “the truth”.
(Image: Getty Images)
She wrote: “I’m so proud of my dad for finally finally finally starting to share the truth. He has always stood up to bullies and narcissists and absolutely deserves reassurance and validation for doing so.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
