The comedy world has been under siege for years.
Left-wing activists have tried to destroy anyone who dares to tell a joke.
And a Monty Python star made one confession about Trump that left activists seething.
Comedy legend admits Trump freed people to laugh again
Terry Gilliam built his career on comedy that dared to be different.
The 84-year-old filmmaker helped create Monty Python, one of the most groundbreaking comedy groups in entertainment history.
Now he’s watching the comedy world get strangled by political correctness.
In a recent interview, the veteran director dropped a bombshell about how President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has completely shifted the landscape.¹
"I think Trump has changed things considerably. He’s turned the world upside down," Gilliam said. "I don’t know if people are going to be laughing more, but they’re probably less frightened to laugh."¹
That’s a stunning statement from the legendary comedian. .
Gilliam said that woke activists with a "narrow, self-righteous point of view" instilled fear in comedians over the past decade.
The woke outrage mob has spent years attacking anyone who dares to tell a joke that doesn’t fit their narrow worldview.
"That’s frightened so many people, and so many people have been very timid about telling jokes, making fun of things, because if you tell a joke, these people say you’re punching down at somebody. No, you’re finding humor in humanity!" Gilliam said.¹
This is confirmation of what conservatives have said all along.
The radical Left has turned comedy into a minefield where one misstep can destroy careers.
They’ve made comedians scared to do what they’ve always done best.
Trump’s victory destroyed a woke comedy project
Gilliam’s admission about Trump’s impact on comedy is even more remarkable when you consider what happened to his latest film project.
Gilliam was developing a satirical film called "The Carnival at the End of Days" that mocked woke culture.
The movie centered around Satan trying to prevent God from destroying humanity and originally included the subtitle "Great fun for all of those who enjoy taking offense."
But Trump’s landslide victory in November completely upended Gilliam’s plans.
"Well, he’s f— up the latest film I was working on. Because it was a satire about the last several years when things were going as they were. He’s turned it upside down. So he’s killed my movie," Gilliam said.¹
The filmmaker explained that Trump’s return to power had made his script feel outdated.
"That was how I approached it. I think Trump has destroyed satire. I mean, how can you be satirical about what’s going on in the way he’s doing the world?" he said.¹
Gilliam told Deadline that the script was "out of date because it was a satire of the world two years ago, and Donald Trump has come along, and he is the carnival."²
"He’s turned the world upside down — everything. We may have to rework some of the story because parts of it was very specific about the wonderful world of woke before The Donald took over again. That very narrow way of thinking of life," he added.²
This is the ultimate irony.
A filmmaker who was making fun of woke culture found that Trump’s victory had made the woke left irrelevant.
Hollywood executives were living in fear
Gilliam’s comments also shed light on how the entertainment industry has been operating under a cloud of fear.
The veteran filmmaker lamented the difficulties of getting his anti-woke film off the ground in an increasingly cautious entertainment industry.
"We’ve been living in a very nervous world," Gilliam said. "You were not allowed to offend anyone, and all the executives were living in fear, so I started looking elsewhere."¹
This proves what many conservatives have long suspected.
Hollywood executives have been paralyzed by fear of the woke mob and have been approving projects based on political correctness rather than entertainment value.
The end result has been a constant flow of preachy, humorless content that viewers have completely rejected.
Gilliam has been fighting against political correctness and cancel culture for years.
In a 2020 interview, he said he supported diversity but was fed up with "White men being blamed for everything wrong in the world."³
"It’s been so simplified, is what I don’t like. When I announce that I’m a Black lesbian in transition, people take offense at that. Why?" he joked.³
In 2023, he told reporters that people were losing their sense of humor because of woke activists.
"(Activists) are very self-righteous, and if you don’t agree with them, you’re then a transphobe, a homophobe… No! I’m a phobe-phobe! I hate hate! That’s what I hate!" he said.⁴
The tide is turning against woke comedy police
Gilliam’s admission that Trump has freed people to laugh again is just the latest sign that the tide is turning against the woke comedy police.
Comedians like Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais, and Joe Rogan have been pushing back against cancel culture for years.
Now even liberal comedians are starting to admit that the left has gone too far.
Jimmy Kimmel recently blamed liberals for "viciously attacking comedians" and contributing to Trump’s rise to power.
The American people are clearly tired of being told what they can and can’t laugh at.
They want comedy that’s funny, not comedy that lectures them about social justice.
Trump’s victory has sent a clear message to the entertainment industry that Americans are done with woke nonsense.
The fact that even a liberal filmmaker like Gilliam is admitting that Trump has changed the comedy landscape shows just how dramatic this shift has been.
Comedy works best when it’s free from political constraints and social engineering.
The woke Left tried to turn comedy into a weapon for their radical agenda.
But Americans rejected that vision and chose freedom over fear.
Terry Gilliam’s stunning admission proves that Trump’s victory was about more than just politics.
It was about restoring America’s sense of humor and giving people permission to laugh again.
Citations:
- Fox News, "Monty Python comedian says Trump emboldened people to laugh again after woke activists ruined comedy," July 8, 2025
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
