John Cleese has clapped back at former co-star Eric Idle after he claimed he makes “no money” from his roles in Monty Python and Spamalot – revealing the pair have never seen eye to eye.
Idle co-founded the comedy group in 1960 alongside Graham Chapman, Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
Last weekend, Idle slammed manager Holly Gilliam for the Monty Python troupe's dwindling finances during a rant on his X account.
Gilliam runs HDG Projects, which manages Monty Python and helped stage Monty Python Live: One Down Five to Go, the group’s 2014 reunion shows in London.
Speaking of her work, Idle posted: “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.
“We own everything we ever made in Python and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously.
Monty Python was founded in 1960
BBC
“But I guess if you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.”
Cleese was quick to jump to Gilliam’s defence and clapped back at Idle’s claims: “I have worked with Holly for the last ten years.
“I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with. Michael Palin has asked me to make it clear that he shares this opinion. Terry Gilliam is also in agreement with this.”
It seems there is no love lost between the pair as when one fan asked on X if the two remained close, Idle revealed he hadn’t seen his former co-star for “seven years”.
Eric Idle slammed Monty Python manager Holly Gilliam
GETTY
Cleese also spoke of his non-existent friendship with Idle and his former co-star's financial complaints, posting on his X account: “Several of my Twits have expressed concerns about my finances.
"In 2024, I have The FT stage show, The Life of Brian stage show, The Wanda musical, An original Hollywood comedy 'Lookalikes'.”
He went on to list six other projects he is involved with this year and signed the post off: “So...not to worry, Camillla Cleese is involved in seven of these.”
An X user responded: “What happened with the other Pythons. Seen a few tweets from Eric. Did you fall out of touch with each other?”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- BBC DJ Steve Wright’s death was 'huge shock' to co-stars despite being aware of 'struggling health'
- BBC faces fierce bidding war with Netflix for Gavin and Stacey special amid drastic ongoing cost-cutting
- BBC Silent Witness fans blast ‘confusing’ series finale as they expose glaring 'plot holes' in last episode
Cleese revealed the truth about his friendship with Idle
GETTY
Cleese quickly addressed the claim and said: “We have always loathed and despised each other, but it’s only recently that the truth has begun to emerge.”
Whist he left fans baffled over the comment, it seems his opinion is in line with Idle’s daughter Lily who posted: “I’m so proud of my dad for finally starting to share the truth.
“He has always stood up to bullies and narcissists and absolutely deserves reassurance and validation for doing so.” (sic)