'Monty Python' Star John Cleese Doubles Down as Muslims Try to Get Him Arrested for His Comments About Islam
Remember when it was stuffy conservatives who didn’t like “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and its stars? Ah, those were the days.
No, seriously. Those really were the days, because whatever John Cleese and Co. endured from the establishment in the 1970s and 1980s, at least they weren’t trying to drag him into court. Not so much with the British left, which is now in thrall to radical Islamists.
Cleese thinks everything is rife for japing at, including… well, it’s become a trope so hoary now that I scarcely even need to voice it. The hardcore Muslims are hopping mad. The problem is that in Merrie England, there’s not exactly robust protection for free speech — and now, one prominent Muslim group wants the law to intervene.
5 Pillars, an Islamist activist outlet in the United Kingdom, reported that there was a “referral to the government’s counter-extremism scheme Prevent concerning comedian John Cleese” because he made fun of Muslims.
You know, the people whose extremists are responsible for the 7/7 bombings and 9/11 attacks. The ones who the “counter-extremism scheme” were supposed to counter.
From 5 Pillars on Wednesday:
The referral, dated September 22 and submitted by a member of the public, cites a series of posts and reposts by the 86-year-old comedian which it argues go beyond legitimate criticism of Islam and instead portray Muslims collectively as violent, criminal and morally depraved.
Are you a fan of John Cleese?The document says Cleese’s social media activity meets “several indicators used in PREVENT risk assessments for anti-Muslim hate and counter-extremism concerns,” and warns that it risks contributing to “radicalisation, communal tension, and hate incidents.”
Cleese has consistently rejected accusations of Islamophobia, describing himself instead as “Islamosceptic.” He argues that his comments constitute legitimate criticism of Islam, Islamic practices and aspects of Muslim culture rather than hostility towards Muslims, and has compared his criticism of Islam to the mockery of Christianity in Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
The complainant hilariously describes Cleese’s risk as “moderate to high.” A risk of what — getting made fun of?
JOHN CLEESE REPORTED TO PREVENT OVER ANTI MUSLIM POSTS
British comedian John Cleese has been named in a Prevent referral over a series of incendiary posts about Muslims and Islam.
Among the posts highlighted to the counter extremism authorities, which 5Pillars has seen, Cleese… pic.twitter.com/yJSJZpN41N
— 5Pillars (@5Pillarsuk) September 28, 2026
Yes, you read that correctly: They want him in trouble for saying, “I personally prefer a culture that does not approve of FGM, Child Marriage and Killing Infidels.” How dare you mock their folkways and hobbies?
And he also mocks how the establishment pretends that there isn’t some sort of public display of force. Like, you know, trying to get him referred to the counter-terrorism folks.
I wonder what they use the mosques for ?
Storage ? https://t.co/gYa7DhCpjp
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 30, 2026
To say that Cleese, 86, is comic royalty is quite underestimating his stature. In addition to his work with the Monty Python troupe through a TV series and several movies, he starred in the TV series “Fawlty Towers” and movies like “A Fish Called Wanda” and the James Bond series as Q. Oh, and voice work as Otto von Walrus in the animated feature “Arctic Dogs.” (Look, they can’t all be winners.)
The point is that Islamists want the man behind this shut up, by law:
Monty Python: dead parrot sketch. pic.twitter.com/a5SDFbkM5f
— John Pitchford🌹💙 (@Johnnypapa64) April 19, 2020
Cleese’s response: “The Islamic male ego becomes so bloated by its lack of restraint that it believes any criticism is blasphemy,” he wrote. “I look forward to being arrested.”
The Islamic male ego becomes so bloated by its lack of restraint that it believes any criticism is blasphemy
I look forward to being arrested https://t.co/qn73OUKw7P
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 29, 2026
He added that it was “one of the proudest moments of my life.”
One of the proudest moments of my life
I would like to thank everyone concerned https://t.co/FDkvieJ3Lq
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 30, 2026
Now to be fair, a Prevent referral doesn’t necessarily mean Cleese will ever go near jail. Prevent’s website specifically states that it “operates in the non-criminal space and is designed to support people away from radicalization before they commit an offense.”
But given the fact that he’s obviously going to refuse to shut up and this is going to be a big fat waste of time, the next step would be Muslim fundamentalists deciding that he’s committing a terror offense simply by talking about them in a way they don’t like.
Say what you will about Christians who didn’t get Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian” and criticized him for blasphemy, but they didn’t try to have Cleese or his fellow Python members jailed, or worse. Now, the left is going to say that by merely causing offense to Muslims, Cleese has committed a grave and possibly criminal act. If someone tries to make a Salman Rushdie out of him, well, they might not approve publicly — but rest assured, they’ll understand.
If that doesn’t scare you because you’re an American, it should. It’s beyond disgusting that, in any free society, the sword of Damocles can dangle over someone merely for speaking his or her mind, for refusing to take an unserious rabblement seriously.
Cleese is a profile in courage, and it’s high time that more people in the West demanded the British government protect him, instead of potentially interceding on behalf of his fatuous — yet dangerous — persecutors.
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