John Cleese shares tongue-in-cheek apology over Fawlty Towers reboot: 'I truly meant no harm'

John Cleese has shared a tongue-in-cheek apology for his announcement of a Fawlty Towers reboot, after the news upset thousands of fans.

Cleese, 83, who wrote and acted in the original ’70s comedy series, which he developed with his then-wife, Connie Booth, shared a joking message to Twitter, insisting he “meant no harm” by the idea.

“I must apologise. I had no idea that the idea of writing a new sitcom with my daughter would cause so much anger and distress. I truly meant no harm,” he wrote.

Cleese hit back at fans who criticised his decision to reboot the series. (Getty)

“Naively I thought it might be fun. But I feel terrible about having released this tide of negative emotion. Please forgive me.”

Cleese revealed the news of the series revival two weeks ago, announcing he would be writing and appearing in the new series alongside his comedian daughter Camilla Cleese, 39.

From there, news spread that the series would be developed by US studio Castle Rock, with Harry Met Sally director Rob Reiner also working on the project with the Cleeses.

While there were fans who expressed delight at the idea of the ’70s series being rebooted more than 40 years later, there were many who didn’t.

“This is going to be a train wreck, but not just any train wreck, a train driving through a huge pile of sh–t into a nuclear reactor that creates a mushroom cloud that engulfs the country, while simultaneously showering us in… bits of train,” wrote one person on Reddit.

“John Cleese needs to sit down,” they added.

“Let me guess. It’s going to be about the insanity of ‘political correctness gone mad’,” suggested another. “Old man moaning about minorities is not what we need.”

Others noted Cleese has lost his sparkle in public perception over the years due to his increasingly conservative and problematic views.

Fawlty Towers — The original ’70s series has not aged well, and even saw an episode removed by a British streaming service in 2020. (BBC)

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In 2020, Cleese was accused of making transphobic comments on Twitter when he expressed support for Harry Potter author JK Rowling during her own Twitter controversy at the time.

“I’m afraid I’m not that interested in trans folks. I just hope they’re happy and that people treat them kindly,” Cleese tweeted.

“Right now I’m more focussed on threats to democracy in America, the rampant corruption in the UK, the appalling British press, the revelations about police brutality…”

Last year Cleese was called out for making offensive slavery jokes, which resulted in him having his microphone taken away from him at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

John Cleese — Cleese has made headlines for problematic comments over the last few years, which has not proved for a promising comeback with the Fawlty Towers reboot. (Getty)

“[People] get competitive about this business of being oppressed,” Cleese said. “You do know the British have been slaves twice, right?”

Cleese managed to continue before his microphone was completely taken away from him, also managing a joke about global warming.

“The thing is, I’m going to be dead soon. That’s why I’m in favour of global warming – I don’t want to be cold ever again,” he said.

Cleese’s comments lately have not left fans in good spirits about the upcoming series revival of Fawlty Towers, which sits in the grey of today’s standards of political correctness itself. In fact, the series saw an episode removed from the British streaming site UKTV in 2020 due to the use of racial slurs.