John Cleese has shown he does still have something nice to say about Eric Idle, after the Monty Python legends exchanged barbs in recent years.
Formed by John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and the late Graham Chapman and Terry Jones, Python created a raft of sketches, gags and catchphrases that have cemented a spot in British comedy history.
But the comedy giants Cleese and Idle have shown there’s no love lost in recent years, with Idle saying last year in an interview that the ship has sailed on another reunion, after the Pythons’ goodbye show at the O2 in 2014.
‘I did three tours with John Cleese and he seemed perfectly nice, and now he seems not quite so nice,’ Idle said last year.
‘I don’t know why. I haven’t seen him for ten years. So I don’t honestly know what’s going on,’ he told The Sun.
The 82-year-old has also been a vocal critic of the management of the group and their finances, previously labelling it a ‘disaster’.
Meanwhile, Cleese recently had to walk back a tweet in which he said the pair ‘always loathed and despised each other’, later clarifying it as a joke.
However, in a surprising development, the Fawlty Towers has extended an olive branch of sorts with a compliment to Idle.
Writing on X, Cleese started by speaking about his fellow Python alum Palin’s new BBC sitcom Small Prophets, from Detectorists creator Mackenzie Crook.
The 86-year-old wrote: ‘With all the awful things going on in the world, this may seem trivial, but…
‘I am absolutely tickled pink that Sir Mickey Pallin [sic] is receiving rave reviews for his first comedy performance for about 30 years.
‘He’s always been the funniest of the Pythons (except for Eric Idle, of course) and I want to congratulate him with all that is left of my heart.’
Idle told Metro in an interview last year that he chooses not to talk about the supposed beef, saying: ‘People say, “You’re having a spat,” and I say, “I haven’t done any spitting!”’
But he also added: ‘I think it’s a pity, I think it’s only to do with business.’
In 2024, Idle took to Twitter to try and shed light on the nature of the Python relationship all those years ago, writing: ‘I still love and am proud of what we did as Python. It was a very unique group.
‘I think of us as an ex-Liverpool team. We played together well. Way back in the day. But it was never very supportive of people’s feelings and emotions. Not brothers. Colleagues.’
Metro contacted Eric Idle’s representatives for comment.
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