Terry Gilliam has responded to his show being cancelled by the Old Vic theatre after he recommended US comic Dave Chappelle to his followers.
The Monty Python star said he did not expect "freedom of information" to be under threat.
Gilliam found his show cancelled after he recommended Chappelle's new Netflix show, The Closer, to his 495,000 Facebook followers.
The comedian hit out on social media, saying his "unspeakable crime" was to recommend a "brilliant and provocative American comedian".
He added that it is "very sad" that the Old Vic would "'great cultural institution like The Old Vic allowed itself to be intimidated into cancelling our production".
He wrote: "It is very sad that a great cultural institution like The Old Vic allowed itself to be intimidated into cancelling our production of Into The Woods by a small group of closed-minded, humour-averse ideologues on their staff, who absurdly, call themselves ''The Old Vic 12''...as if they are the victims of some cruel injustice desperately fighting for their freedom!"]
In October, Terry Gilliam told his followers he would "love to hear their opinions" on Dave Chappelle's show.
He said in a social media post: "I'm encouraging all of you to watch Dave Chappelle's new show, The Closer, on Netflix. To me, he's the greatest standup comedian alive today: incredibly intelligent, socially aware, dangerously provocative, and gut-wrenchingly funny.
'There's a storm brewing over Netflix's support for the show. I'd love to hear your opinions".
The show has faced criticism over comments made about the LGBT+ community.
Some Netflix employees walked out in protest at the show, which also sees Chappelle say that "gender is a fact".
The Netflix co-CEO has supported Dave Chappelle since The Closer was released on the streaming platform, in a company wide email Netflix said:
'We know that a number of you have been left angry, disappointed and hurt by our decision to put Dave Chappelle's latest special on Netflix,'
'With "The Closer," we understand that the concern is not about offensive-to-some content but titles which could increase real world harm (such as further marginalizing already marginalized groups, hate, violence etc).
Yui Mok
'Last year, we heard similar concerns about 365 Days and violence against women. While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm,' he continued.”
Saturday’s event took place only a day after two transgender employees of Netflix have reportedly filed civil claims against the streaming giant, claiming the company had retaliated against them for raising complaints about Dave Chappelle’s content.
