John Cleese Returns to Social Media to Insult Joe Rogan

Monty Python legend/out-of-touch internet crank John Cleese recently announced that he would be quitting Twitter/X yet again, this time hoping to reach a “better class of person” on Substack. And apparently, this superior mode of online engagement includes lengthy explanations for why he should be allowed to make derogatory jokes about Mexican people. 

But, perhaps not surprisingly, the social media absence didn’t stick. Cleese is now back on the digital hellhole known as X, formerly known as Twitter, and, somewhat surprisingly, one of his latest posts took direct aim at another comedian who loves to push back against woke culture: Joe Rogan.

Cleese shared a clip from Rogan’s podcast, in which the former Fear Factor host falsely claimed that Canadians’ “ability to express themselves on the internet has been severely limited,” adding, “it’s real weird, man. It’s real weird — you could walk there. It’s on the same patch of land as us, and it’s fucked.” 

He further proclaimed that “it just shows you what could happen here if you don’t have the right laws,” and revealed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has put the country on the “road to legitimate Communism. It’s very dangerous.”

“If Joe Rogan was better informed, (he’d) lose a lot (of) listeners,” Cleese pointed out. 

I guess it’s slightly reassuring to learn that Cleese doesn’t buy into the argument that Canada is some kind of authoritarian dystopia, especially because Rogan’s statement about Canada’s internet access is especially confounding since Canada is ranked higher than the U.S. in terms of digital freedoms. But it’s a little surprising that Cleese of all people would choose to blast Rogan and his followers, considering that many of his recent cultural opinions wouldn’t seem out of place on the same podcast. In fact, Cleese’s recent talk show The Dinosaur Hour kind of feels like The Joe Rogan Experience, but with less curtains and more big comfy chairs.

In terms of U.S. politics, Cleese and Rogan seem to be quite far apart (Cleese is a vocal opponent of President Deadbeat Dad from The Little Rascals), but it’s a little hypocritical of Cleese to dunk on Rogan while happily palling around with Bill Maher. As we’ve mentioned before, Maher essentially made the exact same argument as Rogan on Real Time, alleging that Canada is currently in the throes of a radical leftist takeover, using easily debunkable evidence to back up his laughable premise.

If Cleese thinks that Rogan’s opinions are ill informed, wait until he Googles this “John Cleese” guy.