Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: bbc, monty python

Monty Python Feud Rolls On with Cleese Accusing Idle of "Invention"

Monty Python veteran John Cleese accused fellow Python Eric Idle of "invention" over Idle's belief the comedy brand had been mismanaged.

They say we shouldn't meet our legends, or at least hear their dirty laundry being aired in public, like surviving members of Monty Python, John Cleese and Eric Idle. The Monty Python legends exchanged barbs publicly feuded earlier this year after Idle complained that he still had to work because Python's earnings had dried up because the brand had been run into the ground, and he might have to sell his house in Los Angeles.

Idle blamed the mismanagement of the Python brand on Terry Gilliam and his daughter, Holly, who now runs HDG Projects, the company that manages Monty Python and helped produce the stage production Monty Python Live (mostly) – One Down Five to Go, the group's 2014 reunion shows at the O2 in London. He repeated his objection to her role running the company in a New Yorker career overview interview recently. Cleese, along with fellow surviving Monty Python vets Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, declared that they endorsed Holly Gilliam's management of the Python IP. "I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant," Cleese said.

Idle has again taken to Twitter (yes, we are deadnaming the platform because it's now a toxic swamp) to accuse Cleese of sacking former HDG manager Jim Beach and installing Holly. He said this was the reason their relationship was "over." Cleese responded by accusing Idle of "invention": "Jim, who was an old friend of mine from Cambridge days, became Python manager after the O2 show. About four years ago he suffered a bad stroke and subsequently resigned as our manager. His number 2, Holly Gilliam, automatically took over as Python manager."

Can comedy legend daddies stop fighting? We watched Monty Python to drown out mommy and daddy yelling at each other in the first place. This is liable to send us back to therapy or – worse! – start doing stand-up comedy and say things to get cancelled, then start accusing the public of being "woke" and start raking money of that nonsense. Honestly, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones are now officially the least annoying Pythons – for very obvious reasons. No wonder Michael Palin ended up hosting lucrative travel shows for the BBC… At this rate, Ryan Murphy is going to end up making a new season of his FX series Feud about the rise and fall of Monty Python.

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