Jimmy Carr has piled praise on Graham Linehan after the Father Ted writer was arrested for a gender-critical social media post at Heathrow Airport.
Footage has emerged of Mr Carr performing in Minneapolis as part of his "Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny" tour on October 10.
In the clip, he launches into an expletive-laden defence of his comic colleague Mr Linehan, branding him a "f***ing brave guy".
The 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown host had been rumbling through a segment in which audience members could write into the show.
One had written: "Welcome to Minnesota, Jimmy. Do you have any good jokes that would get you arrested at Heathrow?"
After looking around for the questioner, an attendee shouted: "Where's Graham Linehan?"
He replied: "Graham Linehan! I f***ing love Graham.
"Whether you agree with Graham or JK Rowling or not, you have to admit the thing that's in short supply in our society is bravery.
"And he's a f***ing brave guy.
Jimmy Carr has piled praise on Graham Linehan
|PA
"It's easy now to say men are men, women are women, and there's a very tiny percentage of people that want to live different lives - let them do their own thing.
"But at the time, when he started saying it, it was f***ing incredible that he was saying it - and he gave up everything.
"He lost his family, he lost his career, he lost everything.
"And then he was getting f***ing arrested at the airport. F***ing madness.
"You've got the First Amendment," he told his American crowd. "F***ing cherish it."
READ MORE ON GRAHAM LINEHAN:
Jimmy Carr branded the Father Ted creator's airport arrest 'f***ing madness'
|GETTY
On social media, Mr Linehan then revealed how his fellow comedian had come to his aid in the past.
"Delighted that Jimmy Carr has shown support," he said. "I hope it's now safe to say that he alone visited me when I was being cancelled and trying desperately to save my marriage and career. He wasn't even a close friend, so it was exceptionally kind.
"I couldn't expect him to defend me earlier because the same people who came after me were constantly trying to cancel him.
"They nearly succeeded a number of times so I certainly didn't want his career on my conscience."
WATCH: Graham Linehan speaks out on arrest: 'I was incandescent with anger'
The Brass Eye and IT Crowd writer had been handcuffed by armed police "on suspicion of inciting violence" over his gender-critical social media posts upon arrival in London on September 1.
That sparked a furious free speech row, with even Sir Keir Starmer coming out to condemn the police. The PM told officers to focus on serious crimes instead.
Just days later, Nigel Farage presented Mr Linehan's case to the US Congress as he warned that Britain was "becoming North Korea".
It took until October 20 for the Metropolitan Police to finally drop its probe into Mr Linehan.