John Cleese 's microphone was reportedly snatched away from him after he made a controversial joke about slavery live on stage.
The Monty Python legend, 82, was at a 'John Cleese in Conversation' event at SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 11, when he told the joke.
He was on stage alongside a string of fellow comedians, including Duclé Sloan, Jim Gaffigan and Ricky Velez when he asked who was more oppressed by colonisation and started discussing "competition" between cultures.
Sloan, a stand up comedian and Daily Show correspondent, had made a joke about colonisation.
And Cleese said people "forget the British Empire was the basic political unit of organisation for 6,000 years — the British didn’t start [colonising]".
Sloan fired back: "We know, but ya’ll did it so well! It’s the reason I’m here! I’m not supposed to be here!"
And Cleese replied: "We gave you free passage, too."
While his joke was met with shocked groans, it's said the audience stayed on his side because they knew he was clearly joking.
The actor added: "History is a history of crime. It’s a history of people who were stronger beating up people who were weaker, and it’s always been that. It’s deeply, deeply distasteful. But to pretend that one lot were worse than another — you do know the British have been slaves twice, right?"
The back and forth continued between them.
And Cleese went on to say: "[People] get competitive about this business of being oppressed. We were oppressed, the English, by the Romans for 400 [years], from about 0 to 400."
As others began to say they felt "uncomfortable" with the way the conversation had gone, Cleese added: "I want reparations from Italy.
"And then the Normans came over in 1066… they were horrible people from France and they colonised us for 30 years and we need reparations there too, I’m afraid."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sloan then took Cleese's microphone away, with Pasternack telling him: "And now you saved the coloniser."
"I saved a comic whose career I respect," Sloan replied.
Moderator Dan Pasternack tried to make light of the situation as he told the audience: "And this is why your phones are locked up."
And Cleese said: "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."
There were no hard feelings between Cleese and Sloan, who hugged at the end of the panel.
The 90-minute event was part of the South by Southwest Festival, which was held in person for the first time in two years.
Cleese and the panel - all from different backgrounds - had been entertaining the crowd by discussing their upbringings, their views on comedy and their own creative processes.
The Mirror has contacted Cleese's representatives for comment.
