Belgians? They’re fat, beery, pseudo-French b******s, says Cleese
HE is no stranger to speaking his mind, regardless of who he offends. And in his most recent outburst, John Cleese clearly had it in for the Belgians.
The 78-year-old comedy actor and writer labelled them ‘lazy, fat, beer-sodden, pseudoFrench b******s’.
At the end of a 35- date European tour, Cleese wrote on Twitter: ‘Best audiences: Helsinki, Reykjavik, Bergen, Copenhagen, Zwolle, Hamburg, Cologne, Breda, Haarlem, Zurich, Frankfurt, Vienna and Zagreb.
‘Worst: Lazy, fat, beer- sodden, pseudoFrench Belgian b******s in Hasselt. Like reading Moby Dick to nomads.’
Hasselt is about 60 miles east of Brussels, near the border with the Netherlands. Fans were quick to point out that inhabitants of the city speak Flemish – a Belgian variant of Dutch – rather than French, which is spoken in the south of the country.
One replied: ‘But they don’t even speak French in Hasselt.’ Another said: ‘Hasselt is Flemish.’ A third tweeted: ‘In that part of the country it’s lazy, pseudo-Dutch b******s. Minimal fact checking would be appreciated.’ The Monty Python star replied: ‘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.’
Many of his 5.7million followers found the tweets offensive. One said: ‘I was a big fan of you since Fawlty Towers and had respect for you. But now, it’s below zero!’
Another tweeted: ‘Careful John. Hasselt may not ask you back’.
A spokesman for the Ethias Arena, where Cleese performed, said they were shocked by the tweet, adding, ‘we absolutely don’t recognise the characterisation at all.’ They added: ‘Lazy, fat and beer-sodden? Those are really not our visitors. And it is certainly not that people from Hasselt and surroundings cannot behave themselves
It is not the first time Cleese has been associated with rudeness towards Belgium. A Monty Python sketch in 1973 saw its inhabitants described by Michael Palin as ‘miserable fat Belgian b******’.
Cleese has previously criticised political correctness, saying it leads to a world akin to Orwell’s 1984. He said: ‘All humour is critical. If you start to say, “We mustn’t criticise or offend them” then humour is gone.’