Three members of Monty Python have reunited to celebrate Michael Palin‘s birthday.
John Cleese posted a dinner table picture on X (formerly Twitter) of himself alongside Palin and Terry Gilliam after Palin turned 81 on May 5.
Cleese captioned the photo: “An 18 foot Python celebrates Pallin’s 181st Birthday and 195th Travel Book. Photo taken at cafe on peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.”
The day after Palin’s birthday, Cleese wrote: “I was travelling yesterday, and forgot to wish Mickey Pallin a joyous 81st Birthday. We shall shall [sic] celebrate it together tonight, along with Terry Gilliam, if he promises to behave.”
Eric Idle, who lives in Los Angeles, appeared to be absent from the festivities following his online spat with Cleese and Gilliam earlier this year.
Idle blamed mismanagement of the Python brand on Gilliam and his daughter Holly, while writing that it makes him “happy” that he had not seen Cleese in seven years.
Cleese bit back, saying he and Idle had always “loathed and despised” each other. He later clarified that he was joking, posting a series of messages on X lashing out at the reporting of his remarks.
Cleese did, however, defend the management of the Python brand. “I have worked with Holly for the last ten years, and I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with,” he said. Cleese added that Palin and Terry Gilliam shared his view.
Python was co-founded in 1969 by Graham Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Terry Jones, and Palin. Chapman died in 1989, while Jones passed away in 2020. They last performed together in 2014 at the O2 Arena in London.