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11th Nov 2021

John Cleese cancels himself then complains about cancel culture

Kieran Galpin

‘Cancelled’ actor ‘cancels’ himself while attacking ‘cancel culture’…

John Cleese has pulled out of a Cambridge University event – which seems rather strange considering he was supposedly “cancelled” months back.

Despite being a staunch opposer of “cancel culture”, Cleese has “blacklisted himself” presumably in a bid to beat the woke left from cancelling him.

This very confusing and almost laughable situation comes as art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon was banned from speaking at the Cambridge Union.

Appearing last week to discuss society, Graham-Dixon reportedly caricatured Adolf Hitler. Though he later explained he was “briefly paraphrasing his crass and insensitive statements about art and race” to mock them, the performance did not sit well with the union or students.

Union president Keir Bradwell said the “deplorable remarks” and “thoughtless and grotesque language” had offended students. As a result, Bradwell said he was to “create a blacklist of speakers never to be invited back, and we will share it with other unions too… Andrew will be on that list.”

On November 11, 82-year-old Cleese tweeted: “I was looking forward to talking to students at the Cambridge Union this Friday, but I hear that someone there has been blacklisted for doing an impersonation of Hitler.

“I regret that I did the same on a Monty Python show, so I am blacklisting myself before someone else does.”

In a second tweet, he continued: “I apologise to anyone at Cambridge who was hoping to talk with me, but perhaps some of you can find a venue where woke rules do not apply.”

 

Though a lot of Twitter users are congratulating Cleese for cancelling himself – which seems bizarre given the right’s obsession with cancel culture – others are highlighting just how ridiculous his statements are.

One user tweeted: “Help! I’m being repressed! Now we see the violence inherent in the system!”

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