Cleese Attacks Idle Over Spamalot Cash Comments

John Cleese has lashed out at former Monty Python collaborator Eric Idle for "moaning" about the cash he has had to pay his Holy Grail castmates in royalties for stage musical Spamalot.

Dubbing the disgruntled comedian/singer 'Yoko Idle' - a reference to Yoko Ono, who is incorrectly blamed for breaking up the Beatles - Cleese took to his Twitter.com to address Idle's latest remarks.

He writes, "I see Yoko Idle's been moaning (again), about the royalties he had to pay the other Python's for Spamalot. Apparently he paid me 'millions'.

"Actual rough figures last time we checked - Yoko Idle $13m (million), Michael Palin $1.1m, the others just under a million each."

Cleese's comments come after Idle took aim at his one-time collaborator in an article in Britain's Daily Telegraph over his decision to cut the A Fish Called Wanda star from Spamalot.

Idle told the publication, "I fired John Cleese - surgically removed him... He's had millions of dollars from it (musical). He charges people a fortune for using his voice. He's always been in financial crisis.
"His ex-wife was married to him for 20 years. I wouldn't take £13 million to be married to him. I don't feel guilty. I gave him a million dollars. Has he sent me a Christmas card?

"I feel sorry for him having to get out there, but it's good for him because he's a funny man, and having people laugh at him is, actually, much more healthy for him than having too much money."