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.

READ MORE: Eric Idle talks Bowie, Beatles and the chances of a Monty Python reunion 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” .

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 .