The Cambridge Union has made a U-turn on plans to “blacklist” speakers after John Cleese pulled out of a talk over its “woke rules”.
Keir Bradwell, the president of the 200-year-old debating society, assured members that a blacklist would be created after Andrew Graham-Dixon, the art historian, offended some students by performing an Adolf Hitler impression to make a point during a debate last week.
Monty Python star Cleese responded on Wednesday by announcing that he was “blacklisting” himself “before someone else does” by pulling out of his own Cambridge Union engagement.
The controversial proposal for a ban on certain speakers was later scrapped.
Mr Bradwell told The Telegraph that the debating society would perform a “U-turn”, and confirmed that the plans for a formal blacklist would not go ahead.
He said: “Obviously announcing a U-turn looks silly. I was just a 21-year-old who tried to make the situation better. There is no policy to ban anyone for what they are going to say – it’s a free speech institution.
“If there is dichotomy between free speech and offence, I would defend free speech. I don’t want to create an impression that the union is against free speech.”
Mr Bradwell had initially sent out an email saying he would “create a blacklist of speakers never to be invited back”, with the message adding: “Andrew [Graham-Dixon] will be on that list.”
It is understood the U-turn means Mr Graham-Dixon will not be formally blacklisted. The historian, known for presenting documentaries on BBC4, was criticised by students for adopting a German accent to express, in character, the artistic views of Hitler.
The speech, in a debate on the objective existence of “good taste”, was intended to illustrate that the Nazis had objectively bad taste due to their racist views. But it was criticised by some students and described as “absolutely unacceptable” and “utterly horrifying” by Zara Salaria, the equalities officer at the Union.
Mr Bradwell faced criticism on campus that he did not curb the Hitler impersonation while presiding over the debate. He later tried to reassure his peers that Mr Graham-Dixon would not return to the union by proposing a blacklist, subsequently described as “Stalinist” by critics.
‘Find a venue where woke rules don’t apply’
Cleese, who impersonated Hitler in an episode of Monty Python and performed a goose step as Basil Fawlty, responded to the blacklist by pulling out of an event scheduled for Friday.
