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John Cleese
John Cleese. Photograph: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
John Cleese. Photograph: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Cancel Me: John Cleese to present Channel 4 show on ‘woke’ thought

This article is more than 2 years old

Comedian to interview ‘cancelled’ subjects while examining ‘all aspects of political correctness … there’s so much I don’t understand’

John Cleese will take on the topic of “cancel culture” in a forthcoming television series for the UK’s Channel 4.

The new documentary will reportedly explore “why a new ‘woke’ generation is trying to rewrite the rules on what can and can’t be said”.

John Cleese: Cancel Me will see the British comedian and actor meet various subjects who claim to have been “cancelled” for their actions or statements, and activists who have led opposition to various public figures.

In a statement, Cleese said: “I’m delighted to have a chance to find out, on camera, about all the aspects of so-called political correctness. There’s so much I really don’t understand, like: how the impeccable idea of ‘Let’s all be kind to people’ has been developed in some cases ad absurdum.”

“I want to bring the various reasonings right out in the open so that people can be clearer in their minds what they agree with, what they don’t agree with, and what they still can’t make their mind up about.”

The Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star has come under fire himself for his previous work.

In June 2020, Cleese responded angrily to a UKTV decision to remove from streaming an episode of his comedy Fawlty Towers that contained “racial slurs”.

The episode, The Germans, contained a scene in which the character of Major Gowen uses racist language in an anecdote about the West Indies cricket team.

Cleese told the Age at the time: “If you put nonsense words into the mouth of someone you want to make fun of, you’re not broadcasting their views, you’re making fun of them. The major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them. If they can’t see that – if people are too stupid to see that – what can one say?”

The episode was later reinstated on the platform with a content and language warning.

Cleese also has been vocal about his opinions on “cancel culture” in the past, saying he worries about the effects it might have on creativity.

“[Political correctness] stuff started out as a good idea, which is, ‘Let’s not be mean to people’, and I’m in favour of that despite my age,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in September 2020.

“The main thing is to try to be kind. But that then becomes a sort of indulgence of the most over-sensitive people in your culture, the people who are most easily upset … I don’t think we should organise a society around the sensibilities of the most easily upset people because then you have a very neurotic society.

“From the point of creativity, if you have to keep thinking which words you can use and which you can’t, then that will stifle creativity. The main thing is to realise that words depend on their context. Very literal-minded people think a word is a word but it isn’t.”

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