John Cleese says tweets about London were 'culturalist', not racist
Monty Python star John Cleese has defended his comments about London, saying they were "culturalist" rather than racist.
The comedian, 79, has come under scrutiny for saying the capital city was "not really an English city any more".
He has been accused of racism for his comments made on Twitter, while Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said his remarks resembled that of a character in the classic sitcom Fawlty Towers.
Cleese, who moved to the Caribbean island of Nevis in November last year, defended his remarks online.
He said: “It might interest those people who seem to think my remarks about London are racist as opposed to culturalist, to consider that what I like about spending time in Nevis.
“Nevis has excellent race relations, a very well educated population, no sign of political correctness……
“……no sign of Rupert Murdoch, conscientious lawyers, a relaxed and humorous life style, a deep love of cricket, and a complete lack of knife crime And, of course, wonderful weather.”
In another dig at London, Cleese added: “And the icing on the cake is that Nevis is not the world centre for Russian dirty money laundering.”
Cleese rose to prominence in the 1970s as a co-funder of Monty Python, along with Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Sir Michael Palin.
In another series of tweets, Cleese said it was "legitimate" to prefer one culture over another.
“For example, I prefer cultures that do not tolerate female genital mutilation. Will this will be considered racist by all those who hover, eagerly hoping that someone will offend them – on someone else’s behalf, naturally”, Cleese said.
Cleese has aimed similar accusations at London before.
Eight years ago he said the comedy felt like a foreign city and English culture was fading.
Explaining his decision to emigrate last year, he told the BBC he was “so disappointed with so much about this country”.