John Cleese Complains Of BBC’s ‘Dishonest’ Interview About Cancel Culture

Comedian John Cleese has lodged a complaint with UK regulators about a recent BBC interview in which he took part. He took to Twitter to criticize what he calls the “deception, dishonesty and tone” of the interview.

Cleese was interviewed by BBC World News TV, in which he planned to discuss his upcoming stand-up comedy tour in Singapore and Bangkok. During the interview, journalist Karishma Vaswani asked Cleese why he was interested in cancel culture. Cleese, 82, has repeatedly discussed cancel culture in the past, including on Twitter and in his recent Channel 4 documentary.

Cleese said that in response to Vaswani’s question, “I explained that if parents were over protective, it did not prepare children well when they entered the real and often not-very-nice world.”

After this, according to Cleese, “She then asked a disjointed question, clearly trying to portray me as old-fashioned, uncaring and basically harmful.”

The BBC has refuted his claims of unfairness and dishonesty in the interview. It has stated, “This was a fair and appropriate interview which touched on topics that John Cleese has previously been vocal about as well as themes within his new tour.”

Cleese, who rose to fame in 1960 following his involvement with the comedy group Monty Python, felt that Vaswani “totally ignored” his response to her question on cancel culture. He added that her next question, about his decision to perform his shows in Asia despite the continued threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, was “apparently blaming me for making the situation worse!”

When Vaswani proceeded to ask a question about Dave Chapelle, who has recently come under fire for his politically incorrect jokes and his views of cancel culture, Cleese said, “I removed my headphones, saying that this was not the interview I had agreed to.”

In response to interview, which had not yet been aired when Cleese discussed it on Twitter, Cleese announced, “I am formally complaining to the BBC about the deception, dishonesty and tone of this interview. Karishma had no interest in a discussion with me. She wanted only the role of prosecutor. The BBC needs to train her again.”

The BBC has maintained that it supports Vaswani’s approach. It said in a statement that the interview rightfully discussed Cleese’s tour in Asia as well as relevant themes of cancel culture, about which Cleese has historically been vocal.

The network affirmed of Vaswani, “Our presenter is an excellent and experienced journalist who conducted the interview entirely within our editorial guidelines.”

This is not the first time Cleese has criticized the BBC. Last year, a 1975 episode of Fawlty Towers was removed from its UKTV streaming service due to the episode’s use of “racial slurs.” For its decision to remove the episode, Cleese called the BBC “cowardly and gutless.”