Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan considers authorized motion over cancelled Edinburgh comedy present
Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan will take into account taking authorized motion towards an Edinburgh venue until it apologises and U-turns over cancelling a comedy present he was set to seem in.
Leith Arches pulled the plug on the Comedy Unleashed occasion after it obtained complaints that Mr Linehan was on the invoice.
The Dublin-born author has been an outspoken critic of transgender self-identification.
In an interview with TalkTV on Wednesday, Mr Linehan informed The Julia Hartley-Brewer Breakfast Show: “I actually would suggest that the Leith Arches reverse its course because they’ve said enough online for an easy win in the courts.
“So, in the event that they apologise and put the gig on, I’ll say no extra about it. But in any other case, I’m going to be taking a look at authorized motion.”
In a press release to Sky News, Leith Arches mentioned the present would have a “negative effect on future bookings” and was “not a good fit” for the venue.
A spokesperson mentioned: “We are a really small unbiased enterprise.
“We work very closely with the LGBT+ community – it is a considerable part of our revenue. We believe hosting this one-off event would have a negative effect on future bookings.
“The choice shouldn’t be influenced by on-line activists, however by our common neighborhood who use our venue on a each day, weekly and month-to-month foundation.
“We are not against freedom of speech. The show is not a good fit [for] our venue.”
In an Instagram publish on Tuesday, Leith Arches mentioned it was not made conscious of the line-up of the present prematurely.
The publish mentioned: “We would like to thank members of the public and our community for bringing to our attention a comedy act billed to perform at our venue this Thursday.
“We weren’t made conscious of the line-up of this present prematurely.
“We have made the decision to cancel this show, as we are an inclusive venue and this does not align with our overall values.”
Advertising for the Comedy Unleashed occasion had mentioned a “famous ‘cancelled’ comedian” could be amongst these performing.
It was billed as an Edinburgh Fringe Event, nevertheless it doesn’t seem on the official line-up.
Mr Linehan mentioned his look on the sold-out gig was introduced on Tuesday morning.
He mentioned: “And I was quite surprised they announced it because it’s always a risk to announce me appearing at something – and it was cancelled within a couple of hours maybe.
“I had two hours of having fun with the, , pleasure from folks and followers saying they have been going to go.
“You do get used to this type of thing after a while.
“It’s by no means fairly, by no means makes you are feeling good. But the one benefit of it’s that it is drawing extra consideration to the truth that, , primarily a bunch of extremely ideological cultists have taken over establishments throughout society.”
Mr Linehan co-created the Channel 4 comedy Father Ted and later wrote Black Books and The IT Crowd.
He was banned from X, previously often known as Twitter, in 2020 for breaking its guidelines round “hateful conduct” with comments about trans people, but his account was reinstated after Elon Musk took over.
Mr Linehan said: “The most essential view I’ve is that it’s a crime towards humanity to inform youngsters that they might have been born within the improper physique.”
He also believes women deserve “truthful sport” and said the likes of Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and tennis champ Martina Navratilova have been “abused” for his or her views on trans athletes.
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SNP MP says she’s been ‘cancelled’ over gender views after Edinburgh Fringe event scrapped
Earlier this 12 months, The Stand was forced into a U-turn after cancelling a scheduled Edinburgh Fringe occasion that includes SNP MP Joanna Cherry.
The comedy membership initially mentioned it was unable to host the present after key operational workers mentioned they have been “unwilling” to work it as a consequence of Ms Cherry’s gender-critical views.
However, it later apologised and mentioned the choice was “unfair and constituted unlawful discrimination” towards the politician.
The occasion took place last week.
Responding to Comedy Unleashed’s announcement that the occasion had been scrapped, Ms Cherry, who can also be a high lawyer, mentioned: “Looks like a pretty clear case of belief discrimination.”