John Cleese has a pop at the Belgians

John Cleese has picked a fight with Belgium, accusing its citizens of being ‘lazy, fat, beer-sodden, pseudo-French bastards’.

The insult was especially ill-judged as they came after he visited the town of Hasselt, in the Flemish half of the country rather than the French.

He later backtracked: ‘An apology to the citizens of Hasselt. It was quite wrong of me to describe them as pseudo-French. They are, of course, pseudo-Dutch.’

His outburst was aimed at the audience who came to see his Last Time To See Me Before I Die tour there, who were apparently not up to the comedian’s exacting standards.

He listed his favourite cities on the tour, but said Hasselet had ‘the worst audience ever’ and described it as like ‘reading Moby Dick to nomads’. 

Before the show, 78-year-old released a video message to Belgians calling them a ‘lazy, fat bunch of bastards’ after the two shows in the country failed to sell out.

‘Move your ass, or I'll never eat your chocolates again,’ he told them:

Published: 20 Jun 2018