John Cleese and the Ministry of Unpopular Opinions
At more than 80, Monty Python legend John Cleese has become an unlikely combatant in Britain’s culture wars, taking aim at political correctness, Islamist intolerance and gender ideology with the irreverent humor that made him famous.
British actor John Cleese is being targeted on social media for his outspokenness and his views that run radically counter to political correctness. Now in his eighties, one of the creators of Monty Python has lost none of his wit and is preparing to embark on a tour across England – a move that has drawn criticism from those who take issue with his views on Islam.
A Comedian Under Islamist Pressure
The Islamic organization 5Pillars posted about his upcoming tour in no uncertain terms:
Such a post has all the hallmarks of a call to Muslims to take action against him, modeled after the fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie. Cleese responded with his usual caustic wit, condemning in a single line both the growing attacks on freedom of expression in England and the reality of the Islamist threat hanging over him: “I don’t want too many police around, because I’ll probably say something they can arrest me for.”
These two struggles have become central to many of his public stances and are closely intertwined. The issue of transgender rights has now been added to the mix.
Today, Cleese denies any form of hostility toward Muslims. “I am Islamosceptic, not Islamophobic”, he explained on X.
Cleese has a rather extensive history of mocking the Christian religion, notably in his 1979 film Life of Brian. He points out that he has never been called “Christianophobic”, even though his irreverent jokes about Christian believers caused quite a stir at the time of the film’s release. For him, this is proof that the problem lies not with him but with those who take offense at his humor. As a non-believer, he has always denied having made a blasphemous film, preferring to call it a “heretical” film that mocks the foibles of religions and their followers.
Since the 2000s, he has made a string of controversial statements, much to the dismay of the British media, which has watched as one of the icons of British comedy has resolutely crossed over to the dark side.
In 2014, Cleese appeared on Bill Maher’s show Real Time. Asked why comedians almost never satirize Islam the way they have Christianity, he essentially replied that the fear of being killed causes them to hold back: “The problem is if you make jokes about people who are going to kill you, there is a sort of tendency to hold back a little…”
The remark was widely reported and criticized in the British press. Cleese was explicitly drawing a distinction between the freedom to mock Christianity and the constraints on satire of Islam due to the threat of violence. In 2017, he went even further when asked if it would be possible to remake Life of Brian by taking aim at Islam. His response was very direct: he said he would be killed.
His fight against Islamic intolerance goes hand in hand with his defense of British civilization. “I am not a racist. I am a culturalist”, he likes to say. Consequently, he is not ashamed to acknowledge that some cultures are preferable to others, particularly to those that promote stoning, female genital mutilation and beheadings.
It is this stance that has led him to support politician Rupert Lowe and his party, Restore Britain. For several months now, he has presented himself on X as an ardent defender of the conservative politician. He believes Lowe is the only one capable of halting the decline of the traditional England to which he is deeply attached. Rupert Lowe gives as good as he gets.
In March 2026, in a post on X dedicated to British identity, he wrote that the United Kingdom had been shaped by Christian values and added: “If these values are replaced by Islamic ones, this will no longer be Britain.”
The fight against transgenderism completes the picture of his conservative commitments. It is worth noting that in Life of Brian, Cleese had already addressed the issue through the character of Stan, who transitions to become Loretta. The transgender issue has since become one of his pet causes.
While he initially viewed the debate with detachment and amusement, he eventually became more confrontational on the issue. At the start of the controversy surrounding JK Rowling’s comments on menstruation in 2020, Cleese replied nonchalantly: “I’m afraid I’m not that interested in trans folks. I just hope they’re happy and that people treat them kindly.” In September 2020, he signed a letter of support for Rowling. During the sometimes heated exchanges on Twitter that followed, he posted a joke that went viral: “Deep down, I want to be a Cambodian policewoman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?”
Has John Cleese Really Been Radicalized?
It is interesting to note that his starting position was to let others live as they see fit. He has since taken this further, using the Cambodian policewoman as a reductio ad absurdum of transgenderism. Allowing people the freedom to make their own choices does not mean they can do or say just anything. His defense of women’s sports on the basis of biological sex is a logical consequence of his stance.
Some British media outlets have expressed concern over John Cleese’s so-called radicalization, noting his shift from benevolent neutrality to denouncing transgender delusions. But his evolution merely reflects the very trends he denounces: Islamist radicalization fueled by immigration and the denial of biological reality by an increasingly militant LGBT lobby. For Cleese, at least, Britain’s culture wars are making it awfully difficult to always look on the bright side of life.
Welcome to the comments section of the Štandard daily. Please take note of our guidelines, comments are moderated by us. You can contact the moderators at support@statement.com.
Participate in the discussion
Comments are available to subscribers only. If you'd like to join the discussion, choose a subscription starting at €6.72 per month.
All comments 0
Register
Comments are available to registered users only. If you'd like to join the discussion, register here.
