Eric Idle calls out Elon Musk for stealing Monty Python's ideas

Twitter owner Elon Musk said his planned idea of charging the $8 monthly subscription fee to keep and get a blue check verification was influenced by the British comedy troupe Monty Python.

But actor, comedian and Monty Python member Eric Idle slammed the tech billionaire for stealing the surreal comedy group's ideas.

On Tuesday (1 November), Musk made a tweet, reiterating his position that he wants to charge the fee for Twitter verification. He also joked that the plan was inspired by a sketch from Monty Python.

"Totally stole idea of charging for insults & arguments from Monty Python, tbh," he tweeted, while also sharing a clip of a sketch of one of the sketches.

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The clip showed comedians Michael Palin and John Cleese in a scenario where a man goes to a clinic where people pay to get into arguments and partakes in a lengthy debate with a professional arguer.

The following day (2 November), Idle, who didn't appear in the sketch Musk shared, took to his Twitter to express his feelings about Musk's tweet.

"So you're allowed to steal, but you wish to charge us to verify who we are? Good luck with that then," he wrote.

On Monday (31 October), Idle also seemed to suggest he would most likely do away with Twitter altogether if he had to fork up the cash to keep his verification.

"But if he charges me to entertain you, and he lets the orange monster back, I think I may decline...," he wrote, in part on Monday (31 October).

Last week, Musk officially bought the social media platform for a whopping $44bn. And since then, he has started to make structural changes.

He fired top executives and mentioned creating a new content moderation council with "diverse viewpoints."

However, the most wildly discussed structural change is the charge for verification.

Those opposed to this believe that paying for the symbolic blue check could give fake accounts the ability to pretend to be influential or public figures, spreading untruths.

Indy100 reached out to Twitter via email and Idle's representative via email for comment.

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