How the comic spreads misinformation on X

John Cleese has been reported to counter-extremism scheme Prevent over his anti-Islamic posts on X, a platform he increasingly uses to promote right-wing talking points and his support for Rupert Lowe’s ethno-nationalist party Restore Britain.

The Fawlty Towers creator also likes to call out the BBC for their reporting. But he’s not exactly a stickler for accuracy himself, merrily retweeting easily disprovable misinformation to his 5million followers on the Elon Musk-owned social media site.

Here are six things he’s posted already in the first four days of October that are not what they first seem…

All the men who say they are Napoleon or Jesus Christ are going to be delighted

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) October 3, 2026

As the community content note explains, Bev Craig, mayor of Greater Manchester, has not announced Xe/Xer pronouns. Her pages on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority website uses ‘she/her’. There is no record that she made the quoted statement about driving boomers out.

Respect needs to go both ways

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) October 3, 2026

In November, Reuters fact-checked the claim and found no evidence it was true. The posts do not even say who is calling for this. The photograph on this particular post is of Shakeel Bhat, pictured protesting in the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan in 2007.

Enormously funny

Do listen

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) October 2, 2026

It is not clear from his comments whether Cleese believes this to be real or not, but it originates from an Instagram channel comprising AI posts in which the interviewer character nails conservative talking-points in fake interactions with computer-generated avatars. 

The Religion of Peace

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) October 1, 2026

Again, X users have called out Cleese for his nonsense. These are acutally fans of the Schalke 04 football fans on October 11 last year (not ‘yesterday’) before the the German club took on the Dublin Bohemians in a friendly. 

Why not just remove education

That would encourage equality

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) October 1, 2026

The fact-check website Snopes labels this as ‘originated as satire’, tracking it back to a Facebook post from US comedian Terrence K Williams. It has a germ of truth, as Oregon changed its testing requirements during Covid, using the opportunity to embark on a wider reorganisation of the education system broadly welcomed by teachers.

Published: 5 Oct 2026