John Cleese Shames England for Free Speech Crackdown
'Monty Python' alum still fighting back against woke scolds, censorship
John Cleese came down with a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, and it appears to be getting worse.
The comedy legend flexes his X account to mock all things Trump all the time. He even shared a post pining for a “big, beautiful obituary,” essentially rooting for President Donald Trump’s death.
Gross.
That doesn’t mean he’s abandoned his free speech bona fides. Hardly.
In fact, Cleese quickly rallied behind fellow comic Graham Linehan while too many of his celebrity peers took a knee.
Linehan, famous for classic British comedies like “Father Ted,” was arrested by five armed British police officers earlier this week.
Why?
Linehan shared “problematic” posts that appeared insulting and/or insensitive to the trans movement. It’s part of Europe’s shocking embrace of censorship-style policies that, to date, haven’t fully traveled across the pond to America.
Yet.
Cleese, responding to Linehan’s shocking arrest, fired off this message via his X account hours ago.
I see that it took five London policemen to arrest a comedian
Meanwhile, people in Chelsea have learned not to waste their time reporting burglaries
Is this an intelligent use of resources ?
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 4, 2025
Celebrities can embrace any political view they wish, and they have the right to share said opinions far and wide. We need artists to stand up for free speech, to call out injustices like this and shed a light on the problem before it gets worse.
And it just might.
Many X accounts took Cleese to task for his post, arguing that he supported the politicians who helped make these free speech assaults a reality.
And they’re not wrong.
Cleese may object to all things Trump, but the current president has been far less egregious on free speech matters than his predecessor. Remember Scary Poppins?
Meanwhile, Linehan doubled down on his free speech case by trolling British officials with this sandwich board protest earlier today.
This is how Graham Linehan turned up to court today after being arrested for gender critical tweets
What an absolute trooper pic.twitter.com/wBemn0hgVT
— BRITAIN IS BROKEN (@BROKENBRITAIN0) September 4, 2025
It is the proper role of artists, including comedians and court jesters, to point out to us things that may not be easy to see or even to look at, like our foibles and our limitations, to deflate balloons of pomposity. I am reminded of a story I heard when I lived in Germany as a young man. During the Nazi period, there was a well-known music hall comedian whose name I do not know. One sunny day in Berlin he pulled a stunt wherein he went to the open-air fish market, put on an apron, picked up a basket of fish and began singing out to shoppers, “Herring! Herring! As plump and fat as Goering!” Well, he attracted attention, some publicity for his career, some shoppers, some laughter and eventually the attention of law enforcement, who took him away to spend a night in jail for an offense not unlike Linehan’s. Two days later, he went back and sang “Herring! Herring! As plump and fat as day before yesterday.” Clever artists will find a way.
Graham Linehan has to be carefull he does not commit a real offense. There is a risk he may at some time fall into the bracket of contempt of court.