Cleese personally, he was a product of his times. But he has much to say about how to be funny and how to be creative, and we can learn from him. He might have done sketches about middle-aged housewives breaking up strikes and burning pornographic books, but who’s the book burners for real now?
The unfortunate thing is that people like Cleese will never learn from their past mistakes. They just don’t have it in them to admit they might have gotten a few things wrong.