Graham Linehan flees to America

To the world of comedy, where it transpires that renowned gender-critical activist Graham Linehan is looking for pastures new. The Irish comedian – who worked on cult sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd — took to X/Twitter this week to announce he is leaving Britain to move to America after claiming “freedom of speech is in bad shape at the moment” in the UK.

In a video released on Elon Musk’s site, Linehan discussed his attempts to dismantle gender ideology and how he received “no support” from his colleagues in the industry in the process. “As a result,” he admitted, “I haven’t worked in five years.” But it’s not all doom and gloom. Linehan announced he has written three episodes of a new sitcom, which he will work on in Arizona in a new production company — alongside none other than actor Rob Schneider and GB News presenter Andrew Doyle. Talk about a turnaround!

Describing the concept as “pretty damn good,” Linehan — who was banned from performing in Edinburgh’s Leith Arches last year over his gender-critical views — revealed that his new show is “not anti-woke comedy,” adding: “I think that would be as dead an end as the woke movement itself is.”

Linehan has previously discussed how dramatically his life changed when he began speaking out about his views on the trans issue, with Debbie Hayton writing last year for The Spectator that “jobs began falling away” for the comedy writer. “Accused by his opponents of transphobia, he has found himself out of work and out of his marriage,” she noted.

The comedian has hinted that his new Arizona show with Doyle and Schneider has “two years to try” to make an impact. It certainly sounds like it’ll be quite the treat. Stay tuned…