Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Monty Python legend Eric Idle has revealed that he’s still working at 80 because of financial reasons, using an extraordinarily candid series of public remarks to criticize streaming services and even his former comedic colleagues.
Idle said the troupe’s beloved works, including the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life, were no longer bringing in much money, nor is his hit broadway musical Spamalot. “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded,” Idle wrote in an X post last week. “Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”
The British comedian, who now lives in California, said “copyright ain’t worth jack shit any more” and criticized streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube in part for his predicament. “We own everything we ever made in Python and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously,” he wrote. “But I guess if you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.”