John Cleese makes formal complaint about ‘deception and dishonesty’ in BBC World Asia interview | News about Ant-Man & Art

John Cleese said he would make a formal complaint about “deception, dishonesty and tone” in an interview he gave BBC World Asia in which he was asked about cultural cancellation.

The actor and comedian said the interviewer did not discuss agreed upon topics and claimed she tried to portray him as “old fashioned, disinterested and fundamentally harmful”.

Writing in a Twitter thread, Cleese said: “I just did an interview with BBC Asian World. It’s about the programs I’m working on Singapore and Bangkok.

“Instead, the interviewer, my name is Karishma, started by asking me questions about Cancel Culture.

“I answered politely and fully. I explained that if parents were too protective, they would not prepare their children well for when they entered the real world, and often not very well.

“She then asked a fragmentary question, clearly trying to portray me as old-fashioned, disinterested, and fundamentally harmful.”

The Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star said his response was “completely ignored” by the interviewer, who then asked about the pandemic, and US comedian Dave Chapelle – who recently caused the culture cancellation after a backlash to LGBT+ comments made in a Netflix special.

“I took off my headphones and said this is not the interview I agreed to,” he continued.

“So I am officially complaining to the BBC about the deception, dishonesty and tone of this interview. Karishma is not interested in discussing with me.”

Why was Cleese asked about the cancellation culture

De-culture refers to removing support, including ostracizing someone, usually a celebrity or public figure, who has expressed views that are deemed offensive.

Cleese has made a documentary on the subject, slated to air in 2022.

In 2020, you criticized the removal of an episode of Fawlty Towers from a streaming service about repeated use of racist language, calling the decision “stupid” and saying: “If you put meaningless words in someone’s mouth you want to mock that you’re not conveying their point of view, you’re making fun of them.”

In November, the comedian “blacklisted himself” from the Cambridge Confederacy’s debate board after a historian impersonated Adolf Hitler in a banned social debate.

Cleese went on to say in her Twitter thread that there would be “no doubt” when it was reported that he had “passed through” the BBC World Asia interview, but he didn’t and “nor do I lose my temper” static”.

A BBC spokesperson said: “This is a fair and appropriate interview, covering topics John Cleese has spoken about before as well as topics on his new tour.

“Our presenter was an excellent and experienced journalist who conducted the interview entirely according to our editorial guidelines.”