Copyright dailymail
Jimmy Carr has praised 'cancelled' writer and comedian Graham Linehan after he was arrested for anti-trans tweets. The Father Ted and IT Crowd writer, 57, was arrested by armed police when he touched down at Heathrow Airport last month from Arizona in the US and detained on suspicion of inciting violence. He has since been told he will face no further police action over the social media posts. Now footage has emerged from Jimmy Carr performing in the US, where he heaped praise on Linehan. It prompted Linehan to reveal that Carr visited him when he was trying to save his 'marriage and career'. At a show in Minneapolis as part of his 'Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny' tour, the comedian asked members of the audience to submit questions to him. One had written: 'Welcome to Minnesota, Jimmy. Do you have any good jokes that would get you arrested at Heathrow?' Shortly after, another audience member shouted: 'Where's Graham Linehan.' Carr replied: 'Graham Linehan. I f***ing love Graham. 'Whether you agree with Graham or JK Rowling or not, you have to admit the thing that's in short supply in our society is bravery. 'And he's a f***ing brave guy. 'It's easy now to say men are men, women are women, and there's a very tiny percentage of people that want to live different lives - let them do their own thing. 'But at the time, when he started saying it, it was f***ing incredible that he was saying it - and he gave up everything. 'He lost his family, he lost his career, he lost everything. 'And then he was getting f***ing arrested at the airport. F***ing madness. 'You've got the First Amendment. F***ing cherish it.' The writer then took to social media to reveal that Jimmy Carr was one of the few comedians to visit him, despite the two not being close friends. Linehan wrote: 'Delighted that Jimmy Carr has shown support. 'I hope it;s now safe to say that he alone visited me when I was being cancelled and trying desperately to save my marriage and career. 'He wasn't even a close friend, so it was exceptionally kind'. He then added: '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.' Linehan also later said that the late Sean Lock once 'confided' with him about an Irish comedian who 'took offence to every other joke' on 8 Out of 10 Cats, which Jimmy Carr hosts. 'I'll leave you to guess who it was,' he added. Mr Linehan, currently living across the Atlantic, later declared he would no longer want to return to Britain after his arrest that was met with fury from high-profile figures such as Harry Potter author JK Rowling who came to his support by branding the detention 'utterly deplorable'. Linehan, who also co-wrote and directed sitcoms such as Black Books, The IT Crowd and Count Arthur Strong, was detained in relation to three tweets which police deemed to warrant an arrest on suspicion of inciting violence. The first, from April 20, read: 'If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.' A second tweet, on April 19, was a picture of a trans rally with the caption: 'A photo you can smell.' The third was a follow-up to this tweet which said: 'I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.' The writer was heard audibly fuming in disbelief when he was stopped by armed officers at the west London airport. He told them: 'I'm a f****** comedy writer, I wrote Father Ted. Are you a f****** idiot?... It's just disgraceful.' When told he was under arrest, Linehan shouted: 'Holy s***, I don't f****** believe it, do you know what this country looks like to America?,' before telling them 'I'm going to sue you into the ground'. He called the officers 'f****** bastards' and shouted 'how dare you' before they urged him to calm down. Shortly afterwards, Linehan can be heard saying: 'I'm f****** infuriated. You scumbags are working for f****** arseholes who go into women's toilets.' After his arrest, the writer claimed he was escorted to A&E 'because the stress nearly killed me' - adding that his blood pressure was recorded at over 200mm Hg by a nurse. Linehan said he was stopped by five armed police officers, although it is understood this is because they were from the Met's Aviation unit and routinely carry firearms. The writer has separately appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court last month, having been accused of harassing transgender activist Sophia Brooks. Linehan has denied one count of harassing Brooks on social media between October 11 and October 27 last year, and a further charge of criminal damage of their mobile phone on October 19 last year. The trial was adjourned and will resume on October 29, with Linehan released on bail. Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk described Britain as a 'police state' in response to Linehan's arrest at Heathrow, while Rowling fumed: 'What the f*** has the UK become? This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.
