John Cleese seemingly quits Twitter as he calls out Elon Musk

John Cleese (Getty)
John Cleese (Getty)

John Cleese has appeared to announced his departure from X (formerly Twitter), mentioning Elon Musk in his farewell message.

On Monday, the 84-year-old Fawlty Towers star hinted at his exit without providing a specific reason.

Cleese, who recently revealed he is "surprisingly poor" despite his five-decade-long successful career, joins a growing list of celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Whoopi Goldberg, Elton John, leaving the platform.

He wrote: “Goodbye, Twitter. And thanks for dinner, Elon."

John Cleese pictured with daughter Camilla in 2014 (Getty Images)
John Cleese pictured with daughter Camilla in 2014 (Getty Images)

As fans filled his replies with messages of sadness over his apparent departure and thanked him for the chance to "interact" over the years, Cleese’s daughter wasn't so sure it was a final goodbye.

Comedian Camilla Cleese, whose mother is Barbara Trentham, humorously responded: “This won’t age well. See you in the morning!”

In May Cleese was joined by Monty Python legends Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam at the press night for the Fawlty Towers West End show in London.

The beloved sitcom - created by Cleese and ex-wife Connie Booth - is getting a limited West End run after being redeveloped as a stage play.

It followed the exploits of highly strung hotelier Basil Fawlty (Cleese) and his wife Sybil, played by Prunella Scales, with the late Andrew Sachs playing hapless Spanish waiter Manuel.

Despite being considered one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, only 12 half-hour episodes were produced.

Cleese helped to fuse three classic episodes into a two-hour play, which opened at London’s Apollo Theatre on May 4, almost 50 years after the sitcom first aired.

Cleese pictured with Terry Gilliam (centre) and Michael Palin (Dave Benett)
Cleese pictured with Terry Gilliam (centre) and Michael Palin (Dave Benett)

This time around, the role of Fawlty is being played by actor Adam Jackson-Smith, with Cleese recently telling the Standard that him reprising the role at 84 was never an option, claiming: “It would kill me.”

“Honestly, I had to get fit when we filmed Fawlty Towers and go for runs because of the amount of energy it used to take out of me, just the movements, keeping every muscle in your body stressed was very tiring,” he said.

“That’s the only way you can play Basil, to use every muscle in your body so you can’t play him relaxed, it would never work — especially now I’ve had two hip replacements, a new knee, a bone spur and now I suffer from vertigo.”