Graham Linehan wades back into trans row as he lays bare who he blames for being cancelled
Graham Linehan was suspended from Twitter in 2020 for his controversial tweets
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Graham Linehan, creator of Father Ted and The IT Crowd, who was cancelled for his views on gender, has revealed who he blames for his fall from grace.
The comedy writer was suspended from Twitter in 2020 after tweeting “men aren’t women tho”, following a post from the Women’s Institute wishing a happy pride to its transgender members.
Whilst his account has since been reinstated, Linehan was publicly cancelled, and subsequently divorced and jobless.
He argued that cancel culture is perpetuated by both keyboard warriors and key institutions.
WATCH NOW: Graham Linehan cancelled by Edinburgh Fringe Venue.
“The worst cancellations come from what you might call the middle-class industries: the media, publishing, theatre, the arts,” he told the Telegraph
Linehan labelled the trans movement as a middle-class one, stating: “There’s no poor people, no working-class people – well, there may be one or two, but the vast majority of trans-identified people are middle class and white.
“I think it comes from a feeling of wanting a cause, and just looking to their friends and seeing one. But it’s not a valid cause, trying to get your mate into women’s sports because he wears fingernail polish.”
His 16-year marriage to fellow writer Helen Serafinowicz collapsed after his cancellation, and Linehan blames trans activists for their split.
He said: “One of the reasons why it’s good in a way that the marriage failed is simply because they can’t get at her anymore. They [trans activists] sent her appalling abuse. And they released our address online. I can’t really talk about it beyond that.”
The BAFTA-winning writer is known for his work on sitcoms including Father Ted, Motherland and The IT Crowd.
However, now Linehan has become one of Britain’s most vocal voices opposing trans ideology and activism.
His comments comparing puberty blockers to a type of Nazi-style experiment, caused widespread upset amongst the LGBT community, with Pink News labelling him a “bigot”.
In 2020, an episode of the IT Crowd was removed over its transgender plotline. Channel 4 stated: “In light of current audience expectations, we concluded it did not meet our standards for remaining available... and it was not possible to make adequate changes.”
Linehan had won Baftas for his work on many British sitcoms
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Linehan is releasing a memoir documenting his life, including his cancellation, next week.
It is entitled “Tough Crowd: How I Made and Lost a Career in Comedy” and has recently been endorsed by two of his only remaining showbiz friends, Richard Ayoade and Jonathan Ross.
Their endorsement has been criticised and Linehan labelled their decision as “brave”.
Speaking about Ayoade in particular, he said: “I think he’s got a new film out so it’s really brave of him and I hope he’s OK.”
Linehan, who lost friends, alongside his wife and job as a result of the cancellation, said that if more of his former pals had stepped forward to support him, then he believes his career would still be intact.
“They all just disappeared. I genuinely didn’t expect that. I thought people would hear: kids are getting double mastectomies, women are having their language erased and their spaces destroyed, how do we help? How do we stop it?
“Instead, even those closest to me distanced themselves, didn’t give me any support and left me isolated. I would constantly be trying to explain what was going on but people didn’t want to hear it. I had one person literally put their hands over their ears.”
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Graham Linehan's pass application was initially rejectedPALinehan appeared at the Conservative Party conference on Sunday (October 1), where he attacked cancel culture.
The writer was initially denied access to the conference but then was invited to speak at an event called: “Is the UK a safe space for free speech?”
He told the audience in Manchester that he found it “very hard to find places to speak these days”.
Addressing the free speech event Linehan said that he feared his trans views were responsible for his initial pass application being rejected - and he blamed the police.
He told the audience: “I almost didn't make it here because I was refused accreditation by the police.
“I've submitted a data access request - a subject access request - to find out why. But I imagine it's either because of Stonewall training or because a number of particularly venomous trans rights activists have reported me for spurious charges of transphobia.”
In August, Linehan's show at the Edinburgh Fringe with GB News' Andrew Doyle was jeopardised after two different venues pulled out of hosting.
The replacement venue decided to cancel as the comedian's views did not 'align' with its values.