Jimmy Carr criticised for supporting Graham Linehan on anti-trans tweets

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Jimmy Carr criticised for supporting Graham Linehan on anti-trans tweets

Jimmy Carr has sparked criticism after showing support for Graham Linehan following the latter’s anti-trans social media comments.

Linehan, who co-created Father Ted and The IT Crowd, made headlines last month when he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence in relation to his posts on social media.

While the Met Police did not confirm the identity of the person arrested, they added that after being taken into custody, officers had become concerned for his well-being and he was taken to the hospital. His condition was said to be neither life-threatening nor life-changing, and he was later bailed pending further investigation.

Writing on Substack, Linehan shared details of his arrest and claimed that he had been “arrested at an airport like a terrorist” (via The Independent). He then added that he was questioned by the police over posts made on X/Twitter in April, relating to him challenging a “trans-identified male” in a “female-only space”.

Now, comedian and TV host Carr has voiced support for Linehan while in the US.

The moment took place on stage in Minnesota as part of Jimmy Carr’s Laughs Funny Tour. Carr asked audience members to submit questions – one of which was: “Welcome to Minnesota, Jimmy. Do you have any good jokes that would get you arrested at Heathrow?”

Responding, Carr said: “Yeah! Graham Linehan… I fucking love Graham. Because whether you agree with Graham or J.K. Rowling or not, you have to admit the thing that’s in short supply in our society is bravery…”

He continued: “He lost his family, he lost his career, he lost everything. And then he was getting fucking arrested at the airport. Fucking madness… You’ve got the First Amendment. Fucking cherish it.”

Linehan has said that Carr went to visit him in the midst of him “being cancelled” and attempting to “save” his marriage and career (as per Daily Mail).

Responding to Carr’s backing of the Father Ted creator, some on social media have criticised the 8 Out Of 10 Cats host.

“What’s brave about ongoing, targeted harassment of the entirety of a vulnerable minority group,” one person wrote in response to Carr sharing a clip from the show online. “He was arrested for HARRASSMENT, not for his ‘opinion’,” another added. “It’s a criminal charge. Aren’t you Cambridge-educated?”

A third responded: “So brave being a bully.”

Linehan himself also took to X to share a response to the comedian’s on stage comments, thanking him for backing him up.

“Delighted that Jimmy Carr has shown support,” he wrote. “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.”

In his Substack post last month, detailing the arrest at Heathrow, the writer shared: “The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.”

In response to Linehan’s claim that he was arrested by armed officers, the Met said: “The arrest was made by officers from the MPS Aviation Unit. It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”

Linehan went on to add that after he was escorted to a cell, he was escorted to A&E as it was found that his blood pressure was in “stroke territory” because “the stress of being arrested for jokes was literally threatening my life”.

The Telegraph reports that he has since been informed by the Crown Prosecution Service that, after a “careful review” of his posts online, there will be no further action.

BBC News also shares that Linehan, with the aid of the Free Speech Union, has said that he will be suing the Metropolitan Police for wrongful arrest and a breach of his free speech rights.

Linehan has made headlines with his anti-transgender views in recent years, being a vocal opponent of concepts including gender self-identification and what he has described as “trans ideology”. These are rumoured to be behind a Father Ted musical being axed in 2022.

In 2018, Linehan was issued a verbal harassment warning by police after he was involved in an online row with a transgender activist.

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