Taylor Swift’s appearance on The Graham Norton Show alongside John Cleese got awkward since the pop star seemingly didn’t like his jokes.

HIGHLIGHTS
Swift is known for calling out those she disagrees with, as seen when she shut down John Cleese’s seemingly sexist joke.
Cleese joked about Swift’s cat’s appearance, angering her, only to later charm her with compliments and banter.
Swift was genuinely surprised when Cleese joked about his mother, but eventually found humor in his shared anecdote.
Since Taylor Swift is one of the biggest music superstars of all time, there are millions of people who would love to recreate her success. As a result, many people have examined what makes the songs that Swift has writtenso quotable that fans listen to them endlessly. What some people don’t realize is that part of the reason Swift is so rich and successful is that she is true to herself.
Since Swift is very true to herself, she has a long history of calling out the people she disagrees with. One fascinating example of that is the time that Swift shut down Monty Python’s John Cleese after he made a joke she seemed to believe was sexist.
This article will reveal when Taylor Swift tried to shut John Cleese down after seemingly thinking his joke was sexist. Then, the article will look at how Cleese seemed to shock Swift when he mocked his own mother.
Taylor Swift Called Out John Cleese’s Joke About Women
Since The Graham Norton Show debuted in 2007, it arguably has become one of the best talk shows of all time. One of the keys to The Graham Norton Show’s incredible success is that viewers love how the show brings random celebrities together.
In some cases, celebrities that people would never associate with each other have seemed to have a great time together on Norton’s coach. On other occasions, pairs of random celebrities have seemed like oil and water, even though Graham Norton usually is so good at bringing people together.
Unfortunately for Taylor Swift, she didn’t seem happy when she appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside John Cleese in 2014. The reason for that is that it seemed very clear that Swift didn’t approve of some of the jokes Cleese was making.

That joke that John Cleese made that really seemed to upset Swift came after Norton brought up cats.
As anyone who is a big fan of Swift’s will likely already know, she absolutely adores her cats. As a result, it may seem surprising that Swift became angry during a conversation about cats. However, Swift obviously seemed annoyed once John Cleese made a joke comparing women to cats.
“I much prefer cats. They’re really unpredictable and cussed. Like women.”
One of the most fascinating parts of Cleese making that joke is what he did while saying it. At the moment that Cleese compared cats to women, he turned to face Swift as if he intended the comment to get a reaction out of her.

If Cleese was hoping to get a laugh or a positive reaction from Swift, that definitely isn’t what he received. Instead, Swift looked annoyed at Cleese’s joke as she sported a smirk on her face. In fact, Swift looked so annoyed by the joke that she seemingly found sexist that the crowd made a sound of tension as they awaited her response.
Instead of chastising Cleese, Swift raised her voice as she warned the Monty Python legend.
“Ewwww. We don’t want to do that.”
While Swift didn’t seem amused by Cleese’s joke, he was delighted by her response. As Cleese could be seen laughing hard at Swift’s warning, the crowd was applauding her so much that what happened next was hard to hear.
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What was clear, however, was that Cleese turned to Swift and complimented her and her response. After that, Swift could be heard thanking him for the compliment.
Swift being gracious at that moment was remarkable since she was offended by jokes Cleese made earlier in the interview.

Before Cleese compared women to cats, Norton showed a photo of one of Swift’s cats. Upon seeing the image, Cleese jokingly asked Swift, “How did it have the accident?” After Swift asked what he was talking about, Cleese asked follow-up questions that made it clear he was mocking how Swift’s cat looked.
“Is that a proper cat? Or is it damaged irreparably? That’s the weirdest cat I’ve ever seen in my life.”
After Cleese said that, Norton didn’t take long to intercede. However, in the few seconds after Cleese mocked Swift’s cat, the pop star seemingly sat in shocked and annoyed silence.
Taylor Swift Seemed Shocked That John Cleese Mocked His Own Mother
After John Cleese and Taylor Swift sat on Graham Norton’s couch together, their interaction about cats got a lot of attention. That makes sense since people don’t typically see a comedy legend like John Cleese notably angering one of the biggest stars in the world. However, that wasn’t Cleese and Swift’s only remarkable interaction.
Several years later in 2019, The Graham Norton Show uploaded a video of Cleese and Swift’s 2014 interview on Facebook. In that video, it initially seemed like Swift and Cleese could have been on the same page.
When Norton showed a photo of Cleese and his mother, Swift stated, “Oh my god.” seemingly in reference to how cute she found the matriarch. However, when Cleese jokingly remarked that the photo was taken after his mom died, Swift seemed legitimately shocked.

Swift only seemed more surprised as Cleese continued to talk about his mom. As Cleese explained, his mom always talked about how she was feeling down. Cleese revealed that one week, he told his mom that he could send someone to take her life if she wanted.
Before Cleese explained that his mom thought that his offer was hilarious, Swift seemed taken aback. On the bright side, Swift seemed to find this anecdote that Cleese shared funny.
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