John Cleese has responded after Muslim activists called for his stage show to be cancelled (Image: Getty)
John Cleese has addressed calls from a Muslim activist group for his Monty Python stage show to be cancelled. The 86-year-old actor is touring with a live event celebrating Monty Python and the Holy Grail, screening the 1975 film before joining the audience for a question-and-answer session. Cleese is due to appear at Birmingham Town Hall today, September 20, but local activists have urged organisers to stop the performance.
In a video shared on X, the group Deenified accused Cleese of using his platform to “attack Islam”, spread “dangerous misinformation” and create hostility towards Muslims. The actor was also described as a “hate preacher” over comments attributed to him, including the claim that “Islam is all about killing”.
The activists said: “Let’s call out the hypocrisy: free speech has become a convenient shield for anti-Muslim hostility and vilification with no consequences.
“The moment that anyone uses that same free speech to attack other faiths relentlessly, like Judaism, they are called out, labelled antisemitic and exposed across national media.”
They argued that criticism of Islam is instead dismissed as “satire”.
“Free speech in this country is applied selectively. It only seems to extend to the groups the elites deem acceptable to vilify in order to meet their agenda,” the group continued.
Deenified then addressed Birmingham Town Hall, criticising its decision to host what it called a “so-called comedian that actively promotes prejudice”.
The group claimed that staging the event “undermines public trust” and appealed to the venue to cancel the show.
Let’s see what they get up to
Islamic folk are often very good fun, with great sense of humour, and especially of irony
I look forward to an evening of laughter https://t.co/jUsOIZecaO
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 19, 2026
The dispute follows previous social media criticism from Cleese about aspects of Islam. He has claimed that the Quran is “all about killing infidels” and said Muslim beliefs are “attacking British values”.
In its caption accompanying the video, Deenified wrote: “@JohnCleese You’re not a comedian — you’re a hate preacher. Birmingham and its community outright reject your so-called ‘comedy.’ You aren’t welcome here.”
Free Speech Nation host Josh Howie defended Cleese after reposting the clip. He called on fellow comedians to “take a stand and denounce this attempt by Islamists to intimidate and ban one of the UK’s greatest living comedians”.
Cleese replied: “Let’s see what they get up to. Islamic folk are often very good fun, with great sense of humour, and especially of irony.
“I look forward to an evening of laughter.”
Cleese is currently touring with a live show celebrating Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Image: Getty)
Cleese began the tour in Basingstoke at the start of September.
Explaining what fans can expect, Cleese told BBC South East Today: “We show the film, but I don’t watch it as I’ve seen it over 7,000 times.
“So, I go round the corner and have dinner and then come back and answer questions from the audience. It’s now rated as the 13th funniest film ever made and we had no idea what we were doing.
“The whole thing is a kind of minor miracle. It’s extraordinary. I come out and introduce the film for about 15 minutes and I tell them about the history and how we came to make it.”
The classic comedy film was written and performed by the Monty Python comedy troupe as a follow-up to their popular Flying Circus TV series.
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