Monty Python star and British comedy legend John Cleese has attacked the press in recent days for allegedly reporting that he would remove a politically incorrect scene from future adaptations of his film Life of Brian to avoid offending the trans community.
In recent statements on Twitter, Cleese claimed that the reporter “misreported me”, claiming that the artist plans to chop the famous “Loretta” scene for the upcoming stage adaptation of the classic religious satire film.
He corrected the reports, claiming that it was merely illustrating what others had advised him to do with the possibly controversial scene. He declared that he “has no intention” of removing it.
The scene in query depicts a male character in a 1979 British comedy telling his co-workers that he desires to be a lady named “Loretta” and demands the precise to offer birth to a baby. Cleese’s bewildered character within the video tells the person that the thought is absurd, while one other colleague argues that they’re all merely advocating for his right to bear children as a symbolic way of opposing “oppression”.
“I would like to be a lady… As a person, I even have a right to be,” the character declares in a scene apparently played for laughs. She adds: “I would like to have children … Every man has the precise to have children if he desires to.” After Cleese protests, the figure growls, “Don’t oppress me!”
The Each day Mail reported this just a few days ago scene from the classic movie “had to go away” script for a future adaptation, in line with the comedian.
The British outlet quoted Cleese’s comments on a recent show, noting the controversy of the scene. Describing a recent reading “Brian’s lifewith several actors, he said, “Finally, I said to the American actors, ‘What do you think that?’ And so they said, “We love the script, but you possibly can’t do this kind of thing with Loretta nowadays.”
He added: “So you’ve something that is never been complained about in 40 years that I’ve heard about and now all of a sudden we won’t do it because it will offend people. What should you concentrate on it?
While outlet and others reported that the scene can be cut as evidence, Cleese took to Twitter to make clear that his comments were merely repeating what he had been advised, not what he had done or intended to do.
He wrote: “A number of days ago I spoke to an audience outside of London. I told them I used to be adapting The Life of Brian so we could do it as a stage show (NOT as a musical). I said that we had a table reading of the most recent draft in Latest York a yr ago and that every one the actors – including several Tony winners – strongly advised me to chop a scene from Loretta. After all, I even have no intention of doing so.”
He then urged the media to omit the context surrounding his claims, saying, “So someone within the audience called a journalist and misinformed me. Strangely, none of the British media called to examine it out.”