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Michael Palin gives evidence in ‘Spamalot’ suit

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Michael Palin gives evidence in 'Spamalot' suitFILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008 file photo, pedestrians walk under the marquee of the Broadway show "Monty Python's Spamalot" at the Shubert Theatre in New York. A producer of the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is suing the comedy troupe over royalties from the hit stage musical "Spamalot." Producer Mark Forstater wants a bigger share of proceeds from the show, which is based on the 1975 movie spoof of the legend of King Arthur. Python members Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Terry Jones are to give evidence during a five-day hearing that began Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 at London's High Court. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File )(Credit: AP)

LONDON (AP) — Michael Palin has rejected a movie producer’s claim that the producer was the unofficial seventh member of the Monty Python comedy troupe and is entitled to more royalties from the musical “Spamalot.”

Mark Forstater has sued over the show, which is based on the 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Forstater produced the film and his lawyer claims it was agreed that he would be “treated as the seventh Python” financially.

Palin told a hearing at London’s High Court on Wednesday that the idea of a seventh member “was never going to be accepted by the Pythons.”

And he disputed Forstater’s claim to have helped written the film, saying: “There were six of us. We were a tight group. We wrote our own material.”

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