John Cleese announces his departure from X

John Cleese is quitting X once and for all.

The Monty Python star has been an avid poster on X, formerly known as Twitter, for many years but he is now turning his back on the site and sharing his opinions on the subscription-based platform Substack.

Announcing his exit, the 85-year-old told his 5.4 million followers on Tuesday, "Hello twits! I just want to say to all my beloved twits that I am moving to Substack because I think I will encounter a better class of person there."

Referencing X owner Elon Musk, Cleese theatrically raised his eyebrows as he quipped, "And also, it's not owned by you know who."

On his Substack, which is titled Cleese Products, the British comedy icon explained to his subscribers that he felt "very constrained" by the character limit on his X posts.

"This brought problems for the irony-challenged, who misunderstood a lot of what I was trying to say," he wrote in an introductory note earlier this week. "This is a particular problem for me because I seem to be regarded as 'on the left' by people on the right, and' 'on the right' by people on the left. Apparently this makes me controversial, and therefore box office poison.

"I hope that now I am on Substack I can offer ideas of greater subtlety to my ex-Twits, whom I shall refer to henceforth as 'my followers'. So, dear reader please follow me (at a safe distance)."

The outspoken TV star had previously indicated he was leaving X in September 2024 when he wished the platform "goodbye". However, his daughter Camille Cleese cast doubt on his claim by replying, "This won't age well. See you in the morning!"

Despite his new announcement, Cleese has not yet deactivated his X account.