Award-winning Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan, creator of Father Ted and The IT Crowd, says he was arrested in London over social media posts criticizing transgenderism.
Linehan wrote on his Substack that when he arrived at Heathrow Airport he was met by five armed police officers who detained him over “three tweets.”
“In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet,” he wrote.
He said the sole condition for his release was that he stop posting on X.
The Tweets in Question
Linehan said the allegedly offending posts included:
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A claim that “biological men” entering female-only spaces commit “a violent and abusive act,” where he suggested: “Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
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A caption on a photo of an LGBTQ+ rally reading: “A photo you can smell.”
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A third post stating: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. Fuck em.”
“I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online—all because I made jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers,” he claimed.
Reaction and Free Speech Concerns
Linehan said his arrest demonstrated how the U.K. has become “hostile to freedom of speech, hostile to women, and far too accommodating to the demands of violent, entitled, abusive men.”
The Free Speech Union announced it would back Linehan, writing on X: “We do not believe Graham’s arrest or the bail conditions imposed were lawful. We will be backing him all the way in his fight against these preposterous allegations and the disproportionate response from the police.”
Rising Arrests for Online Posts
A report from The Times of London earlier this year found that police made 12,183 arrests in 2023 for “offensive online messages” — roughly 33 arrests per day.
This comes despite Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s recent assurances to U.S. leaders, including President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, that the U.K. continues to protect freedom of speech.
Backlash Against Linehan
Linehan has become one of the most prominent voices in Britain and Ireland opposing transgender ideology. His stance has cost him professionally, with multiple stage shows canceled due to his outspoken gender-critical views.
