John Cleese has been following the BBC, as it attempts to ignore or minimize the anti-regime demonstrations in Iran, and he has had quite enough. More on his well-merited fury can be found here: “John Cleese tears into BBC over Iran bias row as actor fumes he’s ‘ashamed’ of broadcaster: ‘It doesn’t want to offend Islamists!,'” by Alex Davies, GB News, January 8, 2026:
John Cleese has joined the growing list of voices expressing their dismay at the BBC over its coverage of the ongoing protests in Iran.
The widespread civil unrest in the Islamic Republic is said to have been sparked by the country’s economic woes, which as seen inflation skyrocket to more than 42 per cent and food prices surge by 72 per cent.
However, hostilities had been threatening to boil over for months prior to the latest protests against the regime’s corruption, civil rights abuses, and critical energy shortages.
Despite the monumental moment in the country’s history, the UK’s national broadcaster has been accused of “ignoring” developments in its coverage, both online and via broadcast.
In one of the most high-profile rows, the Israeli embassy publicly slammed the BBC over its reporting on the Iran protests, with embassy spokesman Alex Gandler claiming the broadcaster has maintained “near-total silence” on the demonstrations while devoting excessive attention to Gaza.
Iranian journalist Mani Barsharzad has added to the criticism, telling GB News that many Iranians perceive the BBC as biased in its coverage of the protests.
“There is a bias there because it doesn’t fit the narrative,” she said. “The narrative, which they want to say is ‘it is their own culture’. ‘If the Islamic Republic is oppressive, it’s because the people want that.’ But this is not the reality.”
Now, Mr Cleese has joined the critics. He took to X, where he reposted criticism of the broadcaster from the likes of Sharron Davies and Jake Wallis Simons, among others taking aim at the Beeb over the supposed lack of coverage from Iran.
Mr Cleese also reacted to a post claiming the BBC was “deliberately ignoring” the protests as it “does not want to offend Islamists in the UK”.
The actor endorsed the suggestion, replying: “This is the best explanation I’ve read so far. Incredible as it seems. I am so ashamed of the BBC.”…
The BBC apparently had to go back a full ten days to find a broadcast in which it discussed the protests in Iran. Otherwise, the “coverage” of the protests it claimed it had carried daily “across all platforms” had been so slender that very few people, including the estimable John Cleese, appear to have noticed it. Was it perhaps a sentence here, two sentences there, such as “protests continue in Iran,” or “more trouble in Iran as protesters give no signs of stopping” that the BBC now claims constitutes real “coverage” of the upheaval in Iran?
Well, it’s one thing for the BBC to be taken to task by such NGOs as HonestReporting and UN Watch. It’s quite another when this pillar of British entertainment, John Cleese, (Fawlty Towers, Monty Python) with his vast audience and millions of admirers, deplores the BBC’s hardly noticeable coverage of the demonstrations in Iran. And it’s positively damning when he endorses the suggestion on social media that the only explanation for the BBC’s “deliberately ignoring” the protests is that it “does not want to offend Islamists in the UK.” Cleese replied online that “this is the best explanation I’ve read so far. Incredible as it seems. I am so ashamed of the BBC.”
John Cleese is one of the most popular comedic actors in the U.K. When he is outraged, people listen. The BBC had the wind knocked out of its sails by the man from Fawlty Towers. Maybe now it will start to give more attention to the Iranian protests that it has largely been ignoring so as not to offend Islamists in the U.K.. And at the same time, one hopes that the BBC will give less attention — right now it seems to be close to 24/7 nonstop coverage — to that phony morality play about wretched Gazans and ruthless Israelis.
SKA says
“No Jews, no news!”
ploome says
sad isn’t it?
How does it feel to be the international target for delegitimization and elimination?
Edmund Carey says
The “maybe now” dream is understandable – we all want to hope. But my guess is that the BBC is so self-righteous about its proceedings that it will find ways to simply fudge – meaning simply ignore – this, and assume (which perhaps they are justified in doing because that’s how the world works) that it will simply go away.
Eddie says
The BBC was not long ago respected, revered even, athrough out the world as a font of knowledge, reliability and truth.
It’s demise has been obvious in recent years since it was handed over to foreigners, to whom lies are second nature and distortion a legitimate tool. Aided by woke liberals who are fully complicit in it’s corruption.
State broadcaster.
The fall of the BBC encapsulates the decline of Britain itself.
How are the mighty fallen ?
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I disagree, Eddie. It was long ago – during the Cold War, in fact. I started noticing their anti-Israel and pro-muslim bias way back in the 90s. Granted, it’s gone way worse as they started hiring more muslims into their organization
Eddie says
You may be right Infidel about the 90 but the BBC concentration on recruiting staff and presenters from ethnic minorities has put a different slant on the BBC in more recent years.
This was very apparent during the BLM troubles.
Britain has been colonised by the third world and all of them are looking out for their own, changing our country and building insular enclaves at our societal expense.
It is not just about Muslims nor is it about jews.
The BBC problem is now that it is not, and cannot be be neutral in foreign disputes.
Kepha says
I believea there’s long been a kind of Islamophilia and subtle, ever-so-polite Jew-hatred in many UK circles, sad to say. And I’m someone who generally thinks highly of the UK.
gravenimage says
John Cleese Denounces the BBC
……………………………………
Good for him!
LS says
He’s been making anti-Semitic remarks too though. Despite having Jewish grandchildren. Some people online have speculated about possible hints of dementia.
Jayell says
You simply can’t get more authentically ‘British’ than John Cleese, so it should be no surprise that he’s simply saying what the vast majority of indigenous Brits (except the blinkered Labour-leaning wokerarti in their gin-and-tonic parties) have for a long time been saying about the bloated superannuated dinosaur that’s supposed to be the UK’s ‘national broadcaster’; although it’s highly debatable which ‘nation’ the so-called ‘British Broadcasting Corporation’ is supposed to represent with its imported Indian muslim Chairman (who recently inferred to a House of Commons committee investigating the recent ‘Newsnight/Panorama’ debacle that he didn’t know what was going on under his nose) and allegedly another muslim in charge of ‘religious broadcasting’ – on top of a workforce so fantastically ‘diverse’ that it makes the shelves of a Walmart superstore look like a lowly village corner shop – with the native ‘English’, ‘Irish’, ‘Scots’ and ‘Welsh’ noticeably thin on the ground for some strange reason.
The only time that the ‘world-famous’ (or should that be ‘infamous’?) BBC seems to be recognising its indigenous British captive benefactors seems to be when it sends its private Stasi round to their houses to collect the ‘licence fee’ tax when they don’t pay up because they rarely if ever watch or listen to anything from this organisation; and after so many have legally opted out in recent years that it’s already made a sizeable dent in its budget. Hopefully your President’s forthcoming legal action will help put this objectionable prehistoric relic out of its misery for good.
John Cleese is indeed very fortunate that he doesn’t have to squander any of his considerable wealth on keeping the BBC afloat after he wisely chose to live in California (?) rather than the Islamic Republic of Great Britain. As ‘Graven image’ says (above), good for him!
marc says
He has a wild case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, and has spent the last couple of years bashing Israel for defending itself.
Cathryn Paradise says
The UK is a Muslim country now and the BBC must kowtow to it’s sharia masters. I’ve suspected that King Charles is a secret convert to Islam for over 15 years. He is also a high ranking Freemason.
England Invaded says
And it’s not just the BBC n the UK who capitulate.
Obviously being forced to pay for this platform (which I don’t) is insult to injury.
Lenny Leaps In says
If Donald Trump succeeds in his 12 billion pound BBC lawsuit, the BBC should thankfully be history!