Edinburgh comedy event featuring Father Ted creator Graham Linehan cancelled after complaints

The Father Ted creator has been an outspoken critic of aspects of the trans rights movement

A stand-up comedy show featuring Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has been cancelled after complaints were made to the venue.

An Edinburgh venue has axed the Comedy Unleashed event featuring Linehan, a vocal critic of aspects of the trans rights movement, which was due to take place on Thursday.

Leith Arches posted the "cancellation announcement" on Instagram on Tuesday, saying: "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.

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan during a Let Women Speak rally in Belfast earlier this year

"We were not made aware of the line-up of this show in advance.

"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 event had said a "famous 'cancelled' comedian" would be among those performing.

They billed it as an "Edinburgh Fringe Event", though it does not appear on the official line-up.

Reacting to the news, Linehan tweeted: "Holy s**t the venue has cancelled the WHOLE GIG because I'm on the bill."

In a subsequent reply to a supporter, he added: "We'll find a venue and we'll sue the Leith Arches if we don't.

"In all conscience, I cannot withhold from the world my fifteen minutes of under-rehearsed stand-up comedy about pizzas."

He told another fan the event had been "sold out" and also retweeted a post from TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer, who condemned the cancellation as "pathetic behaviour".

She said: "Shame on them for censoring the free speech of comedians like @Glinner (Linehan) whose only crime is to believe in biological reality and stand up for women's rights."

Linehan was banned from Twitter in 2020 for breaking its rules around hateful conduct with comments about trans people, but his account was reinstated after Elon Musk took over.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Comedy Unleashed wrote: "The venue (Leith Arches) has cancelled our gig this Thursday following pressure from censorious activists

"Is there an #Edfringe venue that believes in free artistic expression that will host us?"

An earlier dispute at this year’s Fringe emerged after another Edinburgh venue, the Stand, cancelled a speaking event for SNP MP Joanna Cherry. The Stand reinstated Ms Cherry’s event, which went ahead last week, after she produced legal opinion warning the venue that it was unlawfully discriminating against her on the grounds of her views on gender.

It comes after comedian Jerry Sadowitz last year hit back at the Edinburgh Fringe venue which cancelled his show, claiming it "cheapened and simplified" his work.

The Pleasance axed the second of his two nights after saying it had received an "unprecedented" number of complaints and "abuse" was directed at some of its staff.

The show, titled Not for Anyone, was billed as featuring "whacky impressions of Greta Thunberg, Frankie Boyle and deep vein thrombosis" and saw the comedian expose himself to the audience.

The venue said his show was "extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny" and the language used on its stage was "completely unacceptable".