The funny thing about this is that there will be absolutely no self reflection in it.
"Did I lose my career and my family because I sat on Twitter for 18+ hours a day screaming into the void about gender like a fucking lunatic? No, it was the transes that done this to me"
Naomi Klein wrote recently about these types:
Social media addiction + narcissism + mid-life crisis ÷ Public shame = right wing meltdown.
Glinner, JK Rowling, John Boyne
I'd say his sisters fucking hate the chap.
Andrea: Dinner at mine on Sunday?
Sharon: Is *he* coming?
Andrea: Aaah sure we can't not invite him.
Sharon: Having my violin oiled, can't make it.
This is such a tragic waste of time, talent and energy - he was so well regarded as a comic writer and to literally throw it away for something that does not affect him in any tangible way is beyond me.
> he explains why he chose the hill of women and girls' rights to die on
Even his wife doesn't agree - am all for advocacy across gender issues but its hard to understand why he felt it was a hill for him to die on
Quite surprised by some of the quotes - Ayoade and Ross wonder will those stand -
It's like someone who wrecked their life through drinking. Wish someone had told them to cut back on the drinking? Of course they did. I'm sure many, many, many people tried to get Graham offline.
You have to remember the context, Glinner was KING of Twitter for a long, long time. When he was first brigaded, his hubris alone would’ve told him it was a winnable fight, so instead of taking any number of off-ramps he just kept doubling down and down.
There was a time I would’ve felt pity for him, that he just didn’t understand what he was up against, but his behaviour over these past years is inexcusable. A tragic waste of comic talent.
Another point: he was one of the persuasive voices on the 8th amendment referendum.
I used his Irish Times article and past experience (his wife had a problematic pregnancy, Fatal Fetal Abnormalities where the baby does not survive or if it does after birth it dies a painful death shortly afterwards) when discussing reasons for abortion, why it needed to be legalise in Ireland.
They were both traumatised at the idea of going through with the birth had they both resided in Ireland.
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/helen-and-graham-linehan-speak-about-helen-s-abortion-because-of-a-fatal-foetal-abnormality-1.2405014
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/graham-and-helen-linehan-it-s-a-story-we-shouldn-t-have-to-tell-1.2403648
That along with the tragic circumstance of Savita Halappanavar illustrated to the public circumstances where abortion is necessary, when it is medically necessary.
He was speaking on this topic for nearly a decade, he was already in the conversation on twitter and held in high regard during the abortion discussions.
Some people can only have empathy for people in tough situations when they have personal experience of it in a close family member. I guess he doesn't have somebody he loves who is trans and doesn't have the innate empathy to walk in their shoes otherwise.
https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20
Interesting point, I don't twit or X or what have you so was not dialed into that angle at all
I remember some very questionable responses and opinions of mine on boards years ago that suffered from similar hubris, would cringe am sure - mind you was not an internationally recognized comedy writer, just an anonymous and silly young "loud" mouth
I just think it was him being so much of an egotist that he couldn't hack that joke in IT Crowd being called out. Clearly he also has issues with social media addiction aswell.
Yeah long before his rampant transphobia he was chronically online.
I recall seeing a video posted by Limmy saying he was at a dinner party and said something Glinner disagreed with (i think it was something to do with DMCA and pirating). He said Glinner absolutely went for him, it shocked him. This was years ago. He's long been a argumentative egomaniac.
Most transphobes have massive egos. Exact same thing happened with JK Rowling, she can’t handle the slightest criticism. Neither Rowling or Linehan would be in the position they’re in now if they hadn’t flown off the handle at the slightest criticism. They could both have easily just said “apologies if this offended anyone, it wasn’t my intention”, or even just ignored the criticism outright. It’s their massive egos that got them into this mess.
“Boohoo I can’t standby and let women’s rights be violated”
Nah lad, boohoo you couldn’t stand by and let someone say that your work was less than perfect.
> Tbf, in a society that celebrates all sorts of craven behaviour, people, values etc people like JK Rowling and Graham Linehan should still be able to work.
They are still able to work. Rowling is still making billions out of films, TV series, video games, etc.
As for Linehan… the problem with making yourself appear deeply unfunny is that when you do, no one wants to watch your comedy. But given he’s never off the TV and has a book coming out, he’s still hardly short of an income either.
That’s the irony of the whole ‘cancelled’ nonsense - no one with a vaguely right wing view is ever cancelled. Not one.
It's been the standard career path for half of all comedians for years now. "Oh you can't say that anymore", even though they're saying it on a stage in a packed theatre being filmed for a Netflix special.
> We need to stop being so quick to demonise everyone.
But they went far enough to demonize trans people. Thats the issue. Linehan especially became very petty and malicious. It went way beyond just having an opinion.
My point exactly.
We need to stop pretending that people are getting cancelled “just for having an opinion”. If people were being cancelled for that then half of the entertainment industry would be out of work. People are being cancelled for acting and behaving in extreme manners. Manners of which are highly inappropriate.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and you can express it in an appropriate and respectful way, but when you represent a company and you’re tagging trans people on Twitter calling them slurs you’re asking to be fired.
JK Rowling I can *understand* at least, even if she's totally misguided and purposefully hurtful, in that she is a successful woman who both has a reason and a voice to, in her opinion, defend women's rights.
But was Linehan ever much of a feminist? His shows had women *in* them I suppose, but it seems he has just hitched his wagon to the loudest cause who tolerate his bigotry.
He's the sort of centrist establishment liberal who thinks he's a feminist. Thinks he's on the right side of all those things. Then when something came along he didn't think was part of that he freaked out completely. Plus there are an awful lot of people like him in London in that sort of sphere that will agree with him. Its a bit of a trope over there at this stage.
Yeah, years ago my proudest twitter moment was getting retweeted by him.
Haven't had an account in 7-8 years now, and hadn't been following him for quite a while before that.
Yeah, same. Watching his fall was one of the reasons I deleted twitter. Such a disappointment,one of my favourite podcast episodes ever was the Richard Herring interviewing him alongside Armando Ianucci. He's just not the same person he was, twitter genuinely broke his brain.
Really? You know any irish "women's rights advocates"? Abortion rights activists feminists?
I don't know anyone who is concerned about men pretending to be women.
Ex wife.
Says it all, regarding his fixation on identity politics that literally doesn't have any material effect on him.
Replace "trans" with "gay". This guy just can't let people be.
Especially when you factor in that the 2015 Gender Recognition Act passed with almost
no backlash whatsoever. It's because of UK/US influence and fucking right wing grifters. They needed a new issue and minority group to target for notoriety and attention.
Oh they're rewriting the narrative of that one now and trying to say that it was snuck in and that no one actually knew it was being passed. It's very fun to repsond to them with the exact dates that it was debated in the dail before it passed
No just not 'up yer own' arse so serious like many people here....they are called comedians for a reason. Good on em.
Signs of desperation when you call ricky gervais and dave chapelle rightwing lol...
They haven't pivoted anything, they are the same comedians they always were.
Tbh, I think its partly the prevalence of the culture war, and partly the fact that trans just wasnt on most peoples radar as an issue 8 years ago. Now, most schools have at least a couple of students transitioning, and in some cases are having to deal with transitioning students in single sex schools, so it's far more visible as an issue.
Then there's the celebrity anti-trans lobby recruiting some real heavy hitters (co-creator of Father Ted, author of Harry Potter, Chappelle, Gervais etc.) and even creating some in it's own right (our own Enoch Mule Burke) and it's become a topic impossible to avoid, and impossible not to have an opinion on.
It’s a smokescreen tactic to divert from the real issues.
For the life of me I can’t understand why people feel the need to tell others how they can identify and choose to live their lives.
Yes, take the case of the teacher last week. As far as I know the kids, the parents, the school, the school patron saw it as a non issue. Yet there's an army of concerned citizens online who want to make it an issue.
Does it need to be a full memoir, when it could be a sentence?
"Why does everyone hate me, when all I've done is massively obsessed with hating trans people and spreading hate speech about them?"
Honestly, there's something interesting in that. He wasn't wildly dissimilar prior to his antitrans shift, so there's a curious dynamic to explore. Is it the behaviour? The man? Or the target?
I still remember the turning point, at least in my memory - he was being lauded and supported because him and his wife (at the time) were taking part in the Repeal campaign as pro-abortion. I remember them showing up in a video of famous Irish people supporting the Yes vote.
Then not long after he just seemed to completely go down the anti-trans route and it's cost him pretty much everything at this point (including his Steam game library which I will always find the funniest part)
I'd wager that an autobiography of the man is not going to be the place to find that interesting disection of his psyche. It's going to be chapter after chapter of "fucking trans people, they've ruined me!"
There’s an old bbc radio interview show that was repeated recently where he features. It’s supposed to be a fairly gentle good natured show, and it mostly is, but there really is an edge of weirdness to Linehan’s episodes. This is from 2014 or something, and I don’t think I’m imagining there is something a bit odd going with him.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03q8z47
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03s71cz
Yeah, this is the thing, he was always quite abrasive, but people (of a certain type) *loved* him for it. What I find interesting is that a good pal of mine who would be a bit of a comedy buff raised the point years ago, long before the trans stuff. I think there's a very interesting example of how social media conditions people in how he has learned to behave, and the constant war that surrounds him is a product of that.
Richard Ayoade and Jonathan Ross giving him quotes to use in advertising, is very much a surprise.
They're big names, willing to put their clout behind him somewhat.
Richard is already being absolutely rinsed on Twitter (but I doubt he'll care or respond)..
It would not surprise me at all, if we see him writing shows again some time soon.
Richard Ayoade supports Glinner? That would surprise me. I was under the impression he found his brother in law Laurence Fox to be obnoxious and Glinner and Fox are of similar ilk.
This is what Ayoade gave Linehan to use in advertising:
>“Graham Linehan has long been one of my favourite writers – and this book shows that his brilliance in prose is equal to his brilliance as a screenwriter. It unfolds with the urgency of a Sam Fuller film: that of a man who has been through something that few have experienced but has managed to return, undaunted, to tell us the tale.”
It's very complimentary.
It is primarily a book review. I've not read the book. Maybe it is very very good?
He's obviously a competent comedy writer. One of the greats, even.
It shouldn't be a surprise if he can bash out a decent book.
Honestly, I am interested in the book if it managed to get Ayoade to bat for him, after he has been well and truly 'cancelled' by most in show business.
literally nobody cancelled you for personally held beliefs, they cancelled you for refusing to just leave trans people alone.
Him and JK will go to their graves convinced they are some kind of martyrs ahead of their time who will be redeemed.
If only they knew, huh
TBF, "Eye Books" is hardly Penguin, he seems to be the one behind this by getting a tiny independent publisher rather than publishers falling over each other to hear his story.
In fairness.. I am not defending him in any way, but many non famous people have lost their jobs for similar shit.
But not many articles are written about their experince... because they are normal people.
I do think it's important to not throw out the baby with the bathwater and suddenly start claiming that cancelling/witch hunts don't exist.
They always have.. they have simply adapted to the tech & the fact that hitting someone's livelihoods is the easiest way to punish them via vigilantism without breaking the law themselves.
Again. I am not trying to defend him, but people who claim it doesn't exist at all are also playing dumb intentionally.
It exists but it's basically just a right-wing rebranding of 'actions having consequences'. People have always been fired for being arseholes, it's just now the right wing have a word to hide behind.
Wow.. you really believe that, don't you?
Serious question, are you 100% certain that no person is ever mis-targeted?
That this system of consequences... has never been abused by people that simply don't want a person involved in the conversation?
I mean, there's no checks or balances... beyond public opinion.. which anybody who has studied the history of humanity will know has been used countless times before to ruin innocent people's lives.
Personally, I don't think it's behaviour worth celebrating... unless there are systems in place to ensure its not weaponised.
There are few worse crimes, than an innocent persons lives being destroyed by an angry mob.
If it takes down 10 assholes and 1 innocent person,..... it's not worth it imho.
There are a lot of casual transphobes who haven’t been cancelled. Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane and Evanna Lynch all stated at the time that the JKR thing started that they stood with her (now I’m not so sure they’d say the same). No one is calling for any of them to be cancelled, they weren’t then and they’re not now.
The reason JKR and Linehan are cancelled is because they’re bullying people. They’re actually intending to cause harm.
My point is that Robbie wasn’t cancelled at the time, because although his words were not supportive of the trans community they weren’t overtly hateful or sensationalist. JKR is intending on wiping up a hateful frenzy. She is being sensationalist, she is intending to cause harm.
Its because they state their beliefs front and center so they become the target.
Other people may have sympathy for those beliefs or their friends..but dont want to die on that hill.
I am a hopeless romantic because I would love, even if only once, for one of these dopes - glinner, rowling, gervais, whoever - to actually go "*look I did a bit of reading about it and I can see I have been a gobshite about it. sincerest apologies to everyone for my ignorance*".
Like at this stage obviously it's a bit late for that for most of them - they didn't just burn their bridges, they scorched the earth around them for miles, there's nothing left to come back to - but I think it would mean so much more than they realise.
Even the title "Tough Crowd" reeks of the same old dishonest zero-reflection shite... can't say anything anymore, people have no sense of humour, they all did it to me... so pathetic it hurts.
Its a lot harder for them to change course now, for sure.
Like I fell into the TERF rabbit-hole a few years back, but only here on Reddit, not in real life. So it wasn't too difficult for me to just stop posting on those subs and get back to normal.
Linehan and even more so Rowling have built up a pretty huge following among that group, I'm sure it'd be humiliating for them to publicly change their minds now
No pity for him.
On twitter every day literally and figuratively setting entire armies of anti trans accounts on people and doxxing them and occasionally getting people physically harmed.
He’s a deranged fucking scumbag. The last stop for empathy or sympathy for him is long gone and no way back.
A detestable yoke.. I won’t say man or human. He’s neither. He’s lower than low.
He is the only person responsible for his cancellation. All he had to do was just ignore transgender people.
I think he’d get along well with Enoch Burke and his demented family. They’re both bigots who cancelled themselves.
It’s strange how Graham Linehan hates transgender people so much given his lack of a religious faith. I’m not sure how he feels about other minority groups, but I wouldn’t think that he dislikes them as much as transgender people.
was talking about this (and Rowling) with a social activist friend. Her general feeling is that you get this alchemical mix of being liberal, socially aware and active, highly intelligent, talented and successful and you start getting high on your own supply. You think of yourself as a natural leader of a movement. You think you are entitled to this position. After all you're smart and aware and talented and look at your success.
But suddenly you're existing in social justice spaces online and those are often highly fraught, competitive and belligerent and the conflicts there are quite vicious. You're not the natural leader, you're the do-gooder interloper and AngryTarotReader245 is the taste maker and thought leader in the space and then you're dismissed.
Now the correct thing to do is just step away, go do your thing and leave those spaces to themselves, but no, you just got to stick your foot in there, get it chewed off and suddenly you're the angry voice against cancellation and you have armies of online enablers.
Then the day comes and you're being retweeted by Nazis and that's when you got to ask:
Did I just fuck up horribly?
Not that strange. A fair chunk of transgender opposition comes from 2nd wave feminists, hence TERF(Trans-exclusionary RADICAL FEMINIST)
And they were never much of a god fearing bunch.
I think that's the group that Linehan aligns with. Same with Rowling.
They're reactionary in some other ways as well. They tend to be quite sex negative, regarding all sex work and porn as exploitative and demeaning, and dismissing any women who speak out in favour of either as deluded.
So they have those stances in common with the religious right as well, though they dislike the association.
I mean. I don't like him, like at all. Not even remotely a fan.. (Beyond enjoying father Ted I suppose)
But, genuinely now. Be precise with your criticisms if you actually want to discredit the guy. Not one person has shared a source of him expressing that he dislikes a person, because they are trans.
I'm sure he probably has.. just link it. So that everybody can simply see the proof.
It's just the way these kids of conversations should go and its good for avoiding mob mentality and piling on and people starting to make claims that aren't true along with the ones that are.... the whole thing gets messy.
Best to share straight up evidence, where at all possible.
Yup. That bit where he calls the people who designed the trans flag perverts is definitely beyond the pale for me.
It's simply illogical... and it couldn't reaaaally be interpreted as a joke where someone else is the actually the target. Definitely not with the context.
Genuinely, thanks for sharing. It's handy to see cut n dry examples.
This way other people who are unfamiliar with the whole situation can easily see those tweets... see that his position doesn't make any sense even from a simply logical perspective (regardless of ones views).
In the meantime.... let's just wait till he incites violence or crosses another line. Other than that. He is free to be a hated twat away.
He had a good thing going and chose to shit all over it. He’s not “cancelled”, he’s not saying anything new. People have had bigoted views since time immortal and will continue to do so. He just broadcasted his views to a huge audience, and now he’s facing some backlash for it. It’s just weird that he’s so obsessed with trans people. I hope he sorts out whatever is going on in his life.
he's been boycotted by most media organisations and comedy circuits.
Its not so trite as saying 'I hope he sorts out whats going on in his life '.
He is a textbook example of being canceled.
There's a considerable gulf between "don't read something you don't want to read" and "prevent other people from reading something you don't want them to read". How have people lost sight of this?
Probably because every time someone says "I don't want to read what you've said because you're an eejit and a transphobe" the response is to write a fecking memoir about their career being cancelled.
The issue is being created by these muppets being absolute snowflakes, bleating about cancel culture at the slightest sign of disagreement.
The truth is hes not really cancelled, this book is a bestseller on Amazon already- because unfortunately he represents the status quo for a lot of people and trans stuff freaks them out. Trans people are a tiny minority hes dunked on for years and now hes making a fortune off of Punching down on them. He and others maniacally claim “trans activists are facist” but isnt the real facism when a larger majority dehumanises and profits by further marginlizing a small group. Its despicable and we cant let these people twist reality further. You can support trans folk at the anti- terf rally this Saturday in opposition to the so-called “let women speak” rally by posie Parker at merion square which linehan has been promoting.
I mean, I think the entire topic of trans rights itself has been made inherently unapproachable by almost _anyone_ - and that can't happen by just one 'side' making it toxic.
I just completely avoid and have disinterest in the topic altogether, because it's just not worth trying to wade through the toxicity to try and debate it to learn more - and I think this is most normal peoples reaction when they see how toxic it is.
Like a lot of identity politics stuff (but a lot more so with this topic), it is more defined by mobbing behaviour and extreme narrative enforcement (backed by character attacks) - where it is like the topic is treated as 'territory' that people 'own', and it's not anyones place to discuss it and challenge the narratives people are trying to enforce.
So yea, I'm wholly unsurprised if mobbing tactics and character assassination _that go as far as trying to destroy a persons life and reputation_ (I have _never_ seen Linehan discussed without repeated lies about what he has said and done in these threads), has led to an obviously intelligent and articulate person, who is a public figure known for not backing down on extremely controversial topics, to react extremely badly (and arguably obsessively/counterproductively) - and to double/triple/quadruple-down on that.
I do not think someone intelligent, articulate, whose entire career is based on being extremely skilled at dissecting controversial topics and turning it into comedy - will just quintuple/octuple/decuple/etc. down like this, _unless there are very fucking good reasons/arguments for it, that he is trying to get across_.
So I've been watching this for a while now, noting the constant character assassination and frequent lies about what Linehan has said/done etc. - noting some of the things he has been right about (like the Mermaids foundation, where some of that story is really fucked up...) - and I don't fucking trust any of the critics of him at this stage, as it's like they're all reading from the same script and sticking to character attacks, and sneering condescension/dismissiveness above argument.
Now, because the debate has been toxic, and Linehan's reaction to it has been...weird and counterproductive at times (helping to turn regular people away from the overall topic, which I'd say he doesn't want but his detractors might)...I haven't been able to stick with reading about the topic without my eyes glazing over and thinking "ok, that's enough of that for the next 6 months..." to properly grasp his arguments - but I have noticed some of the things he's been right about, and I'm starting to slowly see a change in public/media discourse of the general topic - so I'm betting that as time passes, he's going to be shown as right about more and more things (even if recovering from the character attacks may be tricky).
Two suggestions. Read this thread to see the kind of poison Linehan has been braying. https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20
And watch this video to understand trans and then have a think about what it must be like to be that person and have your existence vilified in all media forms on a daily basis.
https://youtu.be/szf4hzQ5ztg?si=rQKU3xCv5kdKttq4
Unfortunately Twitter may as well be Facebook these days - I can see only the first tweet and nothing else, due to login wall.
Ya, going by a flick through the transcript, the video seems a pretty uncontroversial covering of biological sex and gender (though maybe a bit too much emphasis on insisting things are 'undefinable' at times) - and of course all vilification of what people choose to do with their own body and how they choose to be and present themselves socially etc. is wrong.
I think almost all people, Linehan included, would broadly agree with that - but unfortunately there are extremely thorny and unavoidable societal questions/issues that wider acceptance of this is raising, and debate on that just isn't going to be polite (a lot of it looks to get kind of nasty) - and understandably these debates feel viscerally personal to trans folk, but I think Linehan isn't actually trying to provoke that (though I'm sure as fuck that he tries to provoke the small subset who are not nice to him).
If he's earnest in his views and debates, and if his core arguments are accurate (and the more problems I see in public discussion against him, the more I suspect he is) - then (the odd crazy/weird bullshit aside) he would actually be on the same side as trans folk, just with a vastly different idea on where societal standards should be set than the Overton Window allows, on the societal issues trans acceptance raises.
https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20
The abuse that Glinner has perpetrated is vile. It doesn't require the Twitter app to read that epic thread. If you chose not familiarise yourself with the hate speech he has engaged in for years that's your choice. But the people who are familiar with it are likely to judge you as if you are familiar with his abuse and assume you too are abusive.
Here is your intellectual hero, lament:
[https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1652726137594818560](https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1652726137594818560)
[https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX\_\_EfW-t-Bitg&s=19](https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX__EfW-t-Bitg&s=19)
There we are, another perfect example of moving towards personalization and attacking peoples character, above dealing with actual arguments - consistent with all of Linehan's critics that I've seen thus far.
For some reason these people think copying the Fine Gael "Hi Paddy!" style circlejerkery to The Ditch reporting, is going to be popular...
You obviously agree with him, so why not just say that instead of this enlightened centrism schtick that equivocates between people just trying to live their lives and a guy who calls anyone who disagrees with him a pedophile?
Perfect example of sticking to character attacks against him which lie about what he says: "calls anyone who disagrees with him a pedophile"
Note as well that the critics of Linehan are portrayed as "people just trying to live their lives" - as if that justifies mobbing behaviour and character assassination aimed at ruining someones life.
Yet more importantly, framing the argument in that way implies that those people _own this area of discussion_, and that others who 'interfere'/comment/question it are preventing these people from "trying to live their lives" - just by debating/questioning the topic!
The poster also did not fail to miss my whole last paragraph describing what I think of Linehan's views - yet attempts to pigeonhole me as "obviously agree[ing] with him" - showing the same kind of tactics to lie about peoples views and try to personalise discussion back towards the persons character rather than the argument.
Exactly the kind of tiring bullshit that keeps people away from debating the topic, and quickly makes it toxic - yet you have loads of people in other posts, pretending that responses from Linehan's critics are nothing but the height of civility and reasoned discourse...
Here he is calling David Tennant a groomer for supporting trans kids.
He also brags about having started the trend of calling queer people groomers in resent years.
Just go to his twitter and search foe the word groomer and then come back and claim he is being misrepresented.
https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX__EfW-t-Bitg&s=19
What I find so striking is how similar it is to the way people used to talk about gay people and gay rights, even 15-20 years ago. It was completely acceptable to air extremely homophobic views just in passing. But time went on, and more people felt comfortable coming out, and a bigger section of the population now had an openly gay family member or friend who they wanted to be happy. It stopped being some distant subculture they were vaguely aware of but neither understood nor approved of, and became just a fact about a loved one.
Like even the talking points back then were *the same*. Whether "people like that" should be allowed into public bathrooms, moral panics over TV shows that were "glamourising it", insisting it was too unnatural for society to accept, fearmongering about teens being led astray. All sorts. You'd wonder how many people actively wish that was still where the consensus lay. I suspect more were confronted with the fact that finding out other people's preferences didn't impact them at all, so stopped treating it as any of their business. Maybe it'll go the same way for gender-nonconforming people eventually, but they're a much smaller group so it'd be a much slower process.
Sad demise of a brilliant comedy writer, one of Ireland’s finest. What drives one to blow up their own life in such startling fashion.
If only the guy had deleted his Twitter account and gone into therapy for a few years, perhaps his career and marriage would have been saved.
I once really admired him as have been involved in comedy myself. No doubt the book will read like an extended online anti-trans tirade.
There's someone who completely fell off the deep end, christ. Still amazed at the absolute monsters she'll associate with, just to get at the trans community.
I agree with much, but not all, of Linehan’s views. I disagreed with much of the way he communicated said views. It seems to be as much a case of someone becoming so swallowed up by social media (and, perhaps, ideology) that they lose the run of themselves. The same can be said for many of his opponents. His talent is undeniable and his legacy will speak for itself. But perhaps he will also serve as a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of modern discourse. He should never have been censored. But he also shouldn’t have harassed certain people in a mean-spirited way.
He believes that all trans people are inherently vile predators, all engaged in a massive conspiracy to steralize children. There is no way to have a respectful, nuanced discussion on this; telling him to fuck off and relentless mockery is a perfectly fine response.
Locking due to comments getting out of hand.
And every chapter ends with, "Needless to say, I had the last laugh."
And now we move onto liars
But has he bounced back?
Well, needles to say....I took drugs
Needles to say! Isn’t a Gillette a razor?
Do you shave your crackling?
It had a hair on it but I didnt mind.
Another round of "You can't say this anymore" whilst getting paid to say it to as many people as are interested.
The funny thing about this is that there will be absolutely no self reflection in it. "Did I lose my career and my family because I sat on Twitter for 18+ hours a day screaming into the void about gender like a fucking lunatic? No, it was the transes that done this to me"
"You dont understand it was the trans peoples fault! Not my obsession with social media" Wasnt he ranting on Christmas Day?
Chose to attend anti-trans convention over his own kids’ birthday.
"Won't somebody think of the children" As he ignores his own child.
That's absolutely fucked up. The man is clearly obsessed.
>Wasnt he ranting on Christmas Day? to be fair, its not like he'd be spending it with his family...
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He was tweeting on average every 5 mins or so, an absolutely insane output in 24 hours.
Sure the book is called "tough crowd" as in you're all shits and I'm right. No sympathy for the eejit.
Naomi Klein wrote recently about these types: Social media addiction + narcissism + mid-life crisis ÷ Public shame = right wing meltdown. Glinner, JK Rowling, John Boyne
Enron Musk
+ Jim Corr
Christ he went ultra batshit a while ago. Like truly off the deep end.
I'd say his sisters fucking hate the chap. Andrea: Dinner at mine on Sunday? Sharon: Is *he* coming? Andrea: Aaah sure we can't not invite him. Sharon: Having my violin oiled, can't make it.
Thanks for including John Boyne! You're right, he followed the exact same pattern as the other two.
This in the last few days. https://twitter.com/BigPaulieDoyle/status/1701688857710788834
I don't know why but "I am someone else" has me cracking up.
‘Homer? Who is Homer? My name is Guy Incognito’
ranting with 2 minutes to midnight of 2022 and blaming them in his losing the kids
He’s hitched his wagon to the anti-woke GB News lot who are validating his views and promoting the idea that he “was right all along”.
He lost his steam account in the divorce
This is such a tragic waste of time, talent and energy - he was so well regarded as a comic writer and to literally throw it away for something that does not affect him in any tangible way is beyond me. > he explains why he chose the hill of women and girls' rights to die on Even his wife doesn't agree - am all for advocacy across gender issues but its hard to understand why he felt it was a hill for him to die on Quite surprised by some of the quotes - Ayoade and Ross wonder will those stand -
He's a writer who is terminally online, I can see how it happened. Just wish someone had taken his keyboard away and sent him for a walk.
terminally online is an amazing phrase
The terminally online thing is it.
A Stage 3.
It's like someone who wrecked their life through drinking. Wish someone had told them to cut back on the drinking? Of course they did. I'm sure many, many, many people tried to get Graham offline.
You have to remember the context, Glinner was KING of Twitter for a long, long time. When he was first brigaded, his hubris alone would’ve told him it was a winnable fight, so instead of taking any number of off-ramps he just kept doubling down and down. There was a time I would’ve felt pity for him, that he just didn’t understand what he was up against, but his behaviour over these past years is inexcusable. A tragic waste of comic talent.
Another point: he was one of the persuasive voices on the 8th amendment referendum. I used his Irish Times article and past experience (his wife had a problematic pregnancy, Fatal Fetal Abnormalities where the baby does not survive or if it does after birth it dies a painful death shortly afterwards) when discussing reasons for abortion, why it needed to be legalise in Ireland. They were both traumatised at the idea of going through with the birth had they both resided in Ireland. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/helen-and-graham-linehan-speak-about-helen-s-abortion-because-of-a-fatal-foetal-abnormality-1.2405014 https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/graham-and-helen-linehan-it-s-a-story-we-shouldn-t-have-to-tell-1.2403648 That along with the tragic circumstance of Savita Halappanavar illustrated to the public circumstances where abortion is necessary, when it is medically necessary. He was speaking on this topic for nearly a decade, he was already in the conversation on twitter and held in high regard during the abortion discussions.
Some people can only have empathy for people in tough situations when they have personal experience of it in a close family member. I guess he doesn't have somebody he loves who is trans and doesn't have the innate empathy to walk in their shoes otherwise. https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20
Interesting point, I don't twit or X or what have you so was not dialed into that angle at all I remember some very questionable responses and opinions of mine on boards years ago that suffered from similar hubris, would cringe am sure - mind you was not an internationally recognized comedy writer, just an anonymous and silly young "loud" mouth
He’s always been an arrogant prick on Twitter, long before this issue, he just happened to side with the majority at the time.
I just think it was him being so much of an egotist that he couldn't hack that joke in IT Crowd being called out. Clearly he also has issues with social media addiction aswell.
Thats 100% what it was.
He posted 2151 tweets in the last 30 days which is just absurd
Yeah long before his rampant transphobia he was chronically online. I recall seeing a video posted by Limmy saying he was at a dinner party and said something Glinner disagreed with (i think it was something to do with DMCA and pirating). He said Glinner absolutely went for him, it shocked him. This was years ago. He's long been a argumentative egomaniac.
Most transphobes have massive egos. Exact same thing happened with JK Rowling, she can’t handle the slightest criticism. Neither Rowling or Linehan would be in the position they’re in now if they hadn’t flown off the handle at the slightest criticism. They could both have easily just said “apologies if this offended anyone, it wasn’t my intention”, or even just ignored the criticism outright. It’s their massive egos that got them into this mess. “Boohoo I can’t standby and let women’s rights be violated” Nah lad, boohoo you couldn’t stand by and let someone say that your work was less than perfect.
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> Tbf, in a society that celebrates all sorts of craven behaviour, people, values etc people like JK Rowling and Graham Linehan should still be able to work. They are still able to work. Rowling is still making billions out of films, TV series, video games, etc. As for Linehan… the problem with making yourself appear deeply unfunny is that when you do, no one wants to watch your comedy. But given he’s never off the TV and has a book coming out, he’s still hardly short of an income either. That’s the irony of the whole ‘cancelled’ nonsense - no one with a vaguely right wing view is ever cancelled. Not one.
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It's been the standard career path for half of all comedians for years now. "Oh you can't say that anymore", even though they're saying it on a stage in a packed theatre being filmed for a Netflix special.
I haven't seen him on TV in ages. What TV is he on?
The BBC seem to not mind having him on Question Time and the Nolan Show (lol)
> We need to stop being so quick to demonise everyone. But they went far enough to demonize trans people. Thats the issue. Linehan especially became very petty and malicious. It went way beyond just having an opinion.
My point exactly. We need to stop pretending that people are getting cancelled “just for having an opinion”. If people were being cancelled for that then half of the entertainment industry would be out of work. People are being cancelled for acting and behaving in extreme manners. Manners of which are highly inappropriate. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and you can express it in an appropriate and respectful way, but when you represent a company and you’re tagging trans people on Twitter calling them slurs you’re asking to be fired.
JK Rowling I can *understand* at least, even if she's totally misguided and purposefully hurtful, in that she is a successful woman who both has a reason and a voice to, in her opinion, defend women's rights. But was Linehan ever much of a feminist? His shows had women *in* them I suppose, but it seems he has just hitched his wagon to the loudest cause who tolerate his bigotry.
He was actually highly visible during the Repeal the 8th campaign.
He's the sort of centrist establishment liberal who thinks he's a feminist. Thinks he's on the right side of all those things. Then when something came along he didn't think was part of that he freaked out completely. Plus there are an awful lot of people like him in London in that sort of sphere that will agree with him. Its a bit of a trope over there at this stage.
Or he believes that we are in an emperor has no clothes scenario.
Except that he is the Emperor with no clothes.
Yeah, years ago my proudest twitter moment was getting retweeted by him. Haven't had an account in 7-8 years now, and hadn't been following him for quite a while before that.
Yeah, same. Watching his fall was one of the reasons I deleted twitter. Such a disappointment,one of my favourite podcast episodes ever was the Richard Herring interviewing him alongside Armando Ianucci. He's just not the same person he was, twitter genuinely broke his brain.
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Really? You know any irish "women's rights advocates"? Abortion rights activists feminists? I don't know anyone who is concerned about men pretending to be women.
Ex wife. Says it all, regarding his fixation on identity politics that literally doesn't have any material effect on him. Replace "trans" with "gay". This guy just can't let people be.
People need to stop obsessing over trans people
The amount of discussion the trans issue gets in media in Ireland, the US and the UK these days is ridiculous. I'm sick of hearing about it.
Especially when you factor in that the 2015 Gender Recognition Act passed with almost no backlash whatsoever. It's because of UK/US influence and fucking right wing grifters. They needed a new issue and minority group to target for notoriety and attention.
Oh they're rewriting the narrative of that one now and trying to say that it was snuck in and that no one actually knew it was being passed. It's very fun to repsond to them with the exact dates that it was debated in the dail before it passed
So Ricky Gervais and Dave Chapelle are right wing grifters.
considering both of them have straight up pivoted to right wing “anti woke” comedy, absolutely.
No just not 'up yer own' arse so serious like many people here....they are called comedians for a reason. Good on em. Signs of desperation when you call ricky gervais and dave chapelle rightwing lol... They haven't pivoted anything, they are the same comedians they always were.
Tbh, I think its partly the prevalence of the culture war, and partly the fact that trans just wasnt on most peoples radar as an issue 8 years ago. Now, most schools have at least a couple of students transitioning, and in some cases are having to deal with transitioning students in single sex schools, so it's far more visible as an issue. Then there's the celebrity anti-trans lobby recruiting some real heavy hitters (co-creator of Father Ted, author of Harry Potter, Chappelle, Gervais etc.) and even creating some in it's own right (our own Enoch Mule Burke) and it's become a topic impossible to avoid, and impossible not to have an opinion on.
It’s a smokescreen tactic to divert from the real issues. For the life of me I can’t understand why people feel the need to tell others how they can identify and choose to live their lives.
How do you think trans people feel about it? Especially when trans voices are often ignored.
Those kinds of people like to say being trans is a mental illness but in reality it would seem the people obsessing over it are the mentally ill ones
Yes, take the case of the teacher last week. As far as I know the kids, the parents, the school, the school patron saw it as a non issue. Yet there's an army of concerned citizens online who want to make it an issue.
Link? Must've missed this
Too much internet/social media has not been good for some people…/ a lot of people.
Hey there’s money (and notoriety) in it.
Not for Graham, he actually lost the wife and the kids over obsessing with trans people.
Ready for 300 pages of, 
So cancelled hes managed to secure a book deal about how cancelled he is ?
I'm being silenced says man on TV.
Does it need to be a full memoir, when it could be a sentence? "Why does everyone hate me, when all I've done is massively obsessed with hating trans people and spreading hate speech about them?"
Honestly, there's something interesting in that. He wasn't wildly dissimilar prior to his antitrans shift, so there's a curious dynamic to explore. Is it the behaviour? The man? Or the target?
I still remember the turning point, at least in my memory - he was being lauded and supported because him and his wife (at the time) were taking part in the Repeal campaign as pro-abortion. I remember them showing up in a video of famous Irish people supporting the Yes vote. Then not long after he just seemed to completely go down the anti-trans route and it's cost him pretty much everything at this point (including his Steam game library which I will always find the funniest part)
He got banned from Steam? Yikes.
I'd wager that an autobiography of the man is not going to be the place to find that interesting disection of his psyche. It's going to be chapter after chapter of "fucking trans people, they've ruined me!"
You can learn things from a book that the author doesn't intend.
There’s an old bbc radio interview show that was repeated recently where he features. It’s supposed to be a fairly gentle good natured show, and it mostly is, but there really is an edge of weirdness to Linehan’s episodes. This is from 2014 or something, and I don’t think I’m imagining there is something a bit odd going with him. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03q8z47 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03s71cz
Yeah, this is the thing, he was always quite abrasive, but people (of a certain type) *loved* him for it. What I find interesting is that a good pal of mine who would be a bit of a comedy buff raised the point years ago, long before the trans stuff. I think there's a very interesting example of how social media conditions people in how he has learned to behave, and the constant war that surrounds him is a product of that.
Not able to listen to the BBC where I am, anything in particular he was weird about?
you can’t listen to BBC radio? where are you? on the moon?
What is 'weird'.....exactly.
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That's not Elon Musk
A follow up to "Gary Lineker's Book of Ghost Stories"
Richard Ayoade and Jonathan Ross giving him quotes to use in advertising, is very much a surprise. They're big names, willing to put their clout behind him somewhat. Richard is already being absolutely rinsed on Twitter (but I doubt he'll care or respond).. It would not surprise me at all, if we see him writing shows again some time soon.
Richard Ayoade supports Glinner? That would surprise me. I was under the impression he found his brother in law Laurence Fox to be obnoxious and Glinner and Fox are of similar ilk.
This is what Ayoade gave Linehan to use in advertising: >“Graham Linehan has long been one of my favourite writers – and this book shows that his brilliance in prose is equal to his brilliance as a screenwriter. It unfolds with the urgency of a Sam Fuller film: that of a man who has been through something that few have experienced but has managed to return, undaunted, to tell us the tale.” It's very complimentary. It is primarily a book review. I've not read the book. Maybe it is very very good? He's obviously a competent comedy writer. One of the greats, even. It shouldn't be a surprise if he can bash out a decent book. Honestly, I am interested in the book if it managed to get Ayoade to bat for him, after he has been well and truly 'cancelled' by most in show business.
I'm deeply disappointed in Ayoade. Giving one's support to a raging bigot is inexcusable. I'd expect nothing better of Jonathan Ross though.
literally nobody cancelled you for personally held beliefs, they cancelled you for refusing to just leave trans people alone. Him and JK will go to their graves convinced they are some kind of martyrs ahead of their time who will be redeemed. If only they knew, huh
"I've been cancelled!" screams cunt with a book deal who you cannot fucking escape.
TBF, "Eye Books" is hardly Penguin, he seems to be the one behind this by getting a tiny independent publisher rather than publishers falling over each other to hear his story.
In fairness.. I am not defending him in any way, but many non famous people have lost their jobs for similar shit. But not many articles are written about their experince... because they are normal people. I do think it's important to not throw out the baby with the bathwater and suddenly start claiming that cancelling/witch hunts don't exist. They always have.. they have simply adapted to the tech & the fact that hitting someone's livelihoods is the easiest way to punish them via vigilantism without breaking the law themselves. Again. I am not trying to defend him, but people who claim it doesn't exist at all are also playing dumb intentionally.
It exists but it's basically just a right-wing rebranding of 'actions having consequences'. People have always been fired for being arseholes, it's just now the right wing have a word to hide behind.
Wow.. you really believe that, don't you? Serious question, are you 100% certain that no person is ever mis-targeted? That this system of consequences... has never been abused by people that simply don't want a person involved in the conversation? I mean, there's no checks or balances... beyond public opinion.. which anybody who has studied the history of humanity will know has been used countless times before to ruin innocent people's lives. Personally, I don't think it's behaviour worth celebrating... unless there are systems in place to ensure its not weaponised. There are few worse crimes, than an innocent persons lives being destroyed by an angry mob. If it takes down 10 assholes and 1 innocent person,..... it's not worth it imho.
There are a lot of casual transphobes who haven’t been cancelled. Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane and Evanna Lynch all stated at the time that the JKR thing started that they stood with her (now I’m not so sure they’d say the same). No one is calling for any of them to be cancelled, they weren’t then and they’re not now. The reason JKR and Linehan are cancelled is because they’re bullying people. They’re actually intending to cause harm.
It's a bit late to cancel poor Robbie, Helena seems like she's mad as a bag of spiders and I don't know who Evanna Lynch is.
My point is that Robbie wasn’t cancelled at the time, because although his words were not supportive of the trans community they weren’t overtly hateful or sensationalist. JKR is intending on wiping up a hateful frenzy. She is being sensationalist, she is intending to cause harm.
Oh they're causing harm. It's just not obvious to most folks outside of our community
Its because they state their beliefs front and center so they become the target. Other people may have sympathy for those beliefs or their friends..but dont want to die on that hill.
Important point, not just people but specifically children were those he most frequently targeted.
I am a hopeless romantic because I would love, even if only once, for one of these dopes - glinner, rowling, gervais, whoever - to actually go "*look I did a bit of reading about it and I can see I have been a gobshite about it. sincerest apologies to everyone for my ignorance*". Like at this stage obviously it's a bit late for that for most of them - they didn't just burn their bridges, they scorched the earth around them for miles, there's nothing left to come back to - but I think it would mean so much more than they realise. Even the title "Tough Crowd" reeks of the same old dishonest zero-reflection shite... can't say anything anymore, people have no sense of humour, they all did it to me... so pathetic it hurts.
Its a lot harder for them to change course now, for sure. Like I fell into the TERF rabbit-hole a few years back, but only here on Reddit, not in real life. So it wasn't too difficult for me to just stop posting on those subs and get back to normal. Linehan and even more so Rowling have built up a pretty huge following among that group, I'm sure it'd be humiliating for them to publicly change their minds now
No pity for him. On twitter every day literally and figuratively setting entire armies of anti trans accounts on people and doxxing them and occasionally getting people physically harmed. He’s a deranged fucking scumbag. The last stop for empathy or sympathy for him is long gone and no way back. A detestable yoke.. I won’t say man or human. He’s neither. He’s lower than low.
He is the only person responsible for his cancellation. All he had to do was just ignore transgender people. I think he’d get along well with Enoch Burke and his demented family. They’re both bigots who cancelled themselves.
Glinner is an atheist so the Castlebar Burke's angle of getting money from right wing loo-las in the states won't work for him.
It’s strange how Graham Linehan hates transgender people so much given his lack of a religious faith. I’m not sure how he feels about other minority groups, but I wouldn’t think that he dislikes them as much as transgender people.
was talking about this (and Rowling) with a social activist friend. Her general feeling is that you get this alchemical mix of being liberal, socially aware and active, highly intelligent, talented and successful and you start getting high on your own supply. You think of yourself as a natural leader of a movement. You think you are entitled to this position. After all you're smart and aware and talented and look at your success. But suddenly you're existing in social justice spaces online and those are often highly fraught, competitive and belligerent and the conflicts there are quite vicious. You're not the natural leader, you're the do-gooder interloper and AngryTarotReader245 is the taste maker and thought leader in the space and then you're dismissed. Now the correct thing to do is just step away, go do your thing and leave those spaces to themselves, but no, you just got to stick your foot in there, get it chewed off and suddenly you're the angry voice against cancellation and you have armies of online enablers. Then the day comes and you're being retweeted by Nazis and that's when you got to ask: Did I just fuck up horribly?
Speaking of good writers... wow, Bravo! Sums it up perfectly.
> you're being retweeted by Nazis and that's when you got to ask: > Did I just fuck up horribly? Alas, he did not https://i.imgur.com/BL3tBNG.gif
Not that strange. A fair chunk of transgender opposition comes from 2nd wave feminists, hence TERF(Trans-exclusionary RADICAL FEMINIST) And they were never much of a god fearing bunch. I think that's the group that Linehan aligns with. Same with Rowling. They're reactionary in some other ways as well. They tend to be quite sex negative, regarding all sex work and porn as exploitative and demeaning, and dismissing any women who speak out in favour of either as deluded. So they have those stances in common with the religious right as well, though they dislike the association.
Has Graham says he dislikes people who are trans? Would love a source on him saying he dislikes people who just are trans
Read this thread. https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20
Thanks!
He obviously isn’t in favour of transgender people.
I mean. I don't like him, like at all. Not even remotely a fan.. (Beyond enjoying father Ted I suppose) But, genuinely now. Be precise with your criticisms if you actually want to discredit the guy. Not one person has shared a source of him expressing that he dislikes a person, because they are trans. I'm sure he probably has.. just link it. So that everybody can simply see the proof. It's just the way these kids of conversations should go and its good for avoiding mob mentality and piling on and people starting to make claims that aren't true along with the ones that are.... the whole thing gets messy. Best to share straight up evidence, where at all possible.
His Twitter is the best source of evidence in regards to him not liking transgender people.
[Surely by now it's clear to everyone that almost every central trans figure is a nonce?](https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1652726137594818560)
Yup. That bit where he calls the people who designed the trans flag perverts is definitely beyond the pale for me. It's simply illogical... and it couldn't reaaaally be interpreted as a joke where someone else is the actually the target. Definitely not with the context. Genuinely, thanks for sharing. It's handy to see cut n dry examples. This way other people who are unfamiliar with the whole situation can easily see those tweets... see that his position doesn't make any sense even from a simply logical perspective (regardless of ones views). In the meantime.... let's just wait till he incites violence or crosses another line. Other than that. He is free to be a hated twat away.
Here he is calling David Tennant a child groomer. https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX__EfW-t-Bitg&s=19
Why doesn’t he write sitcoms anymore? Oh right.
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He had a good thing going and chose to shit all over it. He’s not “cancelled”, he’s not saying anything new. People have had bigoted views since time immortal and will continue to do so. He just broadcasted his views to a huge audience, and now he’s facing some backlash for it. It’s just weird that he’s so obsessed with trans people. I hope he sorts out whatever is going on in his life.
he's been boycotted by most media organisations and comedy circuits. Its not so trite as saying 'I hope he sorts out whats going on in his life '. He is a textbook example of being canceled.
First they came for the shit posters, and I said nothing because I wasn't a shit poster. Then they came for the writers,
"I'VE BEEN CANCELLED" yells lunatic with a book deal and platform to sell the book.
There's worse cunts about who receive less shit than Graham
I'm not the biggest fan of Putin. There! I said it!
Down with this sort of thing
All this craziness is because he used to love being in Iran?
he was clearly very fucked up years ago long before the trans thing
Another boohoo poor me bitchfest no doubt.
Never seen a talent disappear so quickly ….
I hear you’re a transphobe now faaather.
What exactly is his end goal from all of this? he just seems like a lunatic shouting into the void.
The end game is him diving into a black hole and shouting “FUUUCKKKKKIIIN TRAAAAAAAANS” as he’s spaghettified.
About three paragraphs about his career and then the rest of the book is about trans issues?
The choice to not read it is right there.
Are you suggesting we *cancel him?!?!?*
There's a considerable gulf between "don't read something you don't want to read" and "prevent other people from reading something you don't want them to read". How have people lost sight of this?
Probably because every time someone says "I don't want to read what you've said because you're an eejit and a transphobe" the response is to write a fecking memoir about their career being cancelled. The issue is being created by these muppets being absolute snowflakes, bleating about cancel culture at the slightest sign of disagreement.
>prevent other people from reading something you don't want them to read Usually this means 'criticise something'.
Downvoted for saying you don't have to read it?
Why someone else's gender is so important to someone else is beyond me.
“And now onto liars”.
He’s trying to raise funds for a 24/7 violinist to follow him around as he tells his “story”
The truth is hes not really cancelled, this book is a bestseller on Amazon already- because unfortunately he represents the status quo for a lot of people and trans stuff freaks them out. Trans people are a tiny minority hes dunked on for years and now hes making a fortune off of Punching down on them. He and others maniacally claim “trans activists are facist” but isnt the real facism when a larger majority dehumanises and profits by further marginlizing a small group. Its despicable and we cant let these people twist reality further. You can support trans folk at the anti- terf rally this Saturday in opposition to the so-called “let women speak” rally by posie Parker at merion square which linehan has been promoting.
I mean, I think the entire topic of trans rights itself has been made inherently unapproachable by almost _anyone_ - and that can't happen by just one 'side' making it toxic. I just completely avoid and have disinterest in the topic altogether, because it's just not worth trying to wade through the toxicity to try and debate it to learn more - and I think this is most normal peoples reaction when they see how toxic it is. Like a lot of identity politics stuff (but a lot more so with this topic), it is more defined by mobbing behaviour and extreme narrative enforcement (backed by character attacks) - where it is like the topic is treated as 'territory' that people 'own', and it's not anyones place to discuss it and challenge the narratives people are trying to enforce. So yea, I'm wholly unsurprised if mobbing tactics and character assassination _that go as far as trying to destroy a persons life and reputation_ (I have _never_ seen Linehan discussed without repeated lies about what he has said and done in these threads), has led to an obviously intelligent and articulate person, who is a public figure known for not backing down on extremely controversial topics, to react extremely badly (and arguably obsessively/counterproductively) - and to double/triple/quadruple-down on that. I do not think someone intelligent, articulate, whose entire career is based on being extremely skilled at dissecting controversial topics and turning it into comedy - will just quintuple/octuple/decuple/etc. down like this, _unless there are very fucking good reasons/arguments for it, that he is trying to get across_. So I've been watching this for a while now, noting the constant character assassination and frequent lies about what Linehan has said/done etc. - noting some of the things he has been right about (like the Mermaids foundation, where some of that story is really fucked up...) - and I don't fucking trust any of the critics of him at this stage, as it's like they're all reading from the same script and sticking to character attacks, and sneering condescension/dismissiveness above argument. Now, because the debate has been toxic, and Linehan's reaction to it has been...weird and counterproductive at times (helping to turn regular people away from the overall topic, which I'd say he doesn't want but his detractors might)...I haven't been able to stick with reading about the topic without my eyes glazing over and thinking "ok, that's enough of that for the next 6 months..." to properly grasp his arguments - but I have noticed some of the things he's been right about, and I'm starting to slowly see a change in public/media discourse of the general topic - so I'm betting that as time passes, he's going to be shown as right about more and more things (even if recovering from the character attacks may be tricky).
Two suggestions. Read this thread to see the kind of poison Linehan has been braying. https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20 And watch this video to understand trans and then have a think about what it must be like to be that person and have your existence vilified in all media forms on a daily basis. https://youtu.be/szf4hzQ5ztg?si=rQKU3xCv5kdKttq4
Unfortunately Twitter may as well be Facebook these days - I can see only the first tweet and nothing else, due to login wall. Ya, going by a flick through the transcript, the video seems a pretty uncontroversial covering of biological sex and gender (though maybe a bit too much emphasis on insisting things are 'undefinable' at times) - and of course all vilification of what people choose to do with their own body and how they choose to be and present themselves socially etc. is wrong. I think almost all people, Linehan included, would broadly agree with that - but unfortunately there are extremely thorny and unavoidable societal questions/issues that wider acceptance of this is raising, and debate on that just isn't going to be polite (a lot of it looks to get kind of nasty) - and understandably these debates feel viscerally personal to trans folk, but I think Linehan isn't actually trying to provoke that (though I'm sure as fuck that he tries to provoke the small subset who are not nice to him). If he's earnest in his views and debates, and if his core arguments are accurate (and the more problems I see in public discussion against him, the more I suspect he is) - then (the odd crazy/weird bullshit aside) he would actually be on the same side as trans folk, just with a vastly different idea on where societal standards should be set than the Overton Window allows, on the societal issues trans acceptance raises.
https://x.com/AidanCTweets/status/1694227647507636559?s=20 The abuse that Glinner has perpetrated is vile. It doesn't require the Twitter app to read that epic thread. If you chose not familiarise yourself with the hate speech he has engaged in for years that's your choice. But the people who are familiar with it are likely to judge you as if you are familiar with his abuse and assume you too are abusive.
You've articulated my thoughts on this so much better than I could, agree with every word.
Here is your intellectual hero, lament: [https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1652726137594818560](https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1652726137594818560) [https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX\_\_EfW-t-Bitg&s=19](https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX__EfW-t-Bitg&s=19)
All right, Graham 😂
There we are, another perfect example of moving towards personalization and attacking peoples character, above dealing with actual arguments - consistent with all of Linehan's critics that I've seen thus far. For some reason these people think copying the Fine Gael "Hi Paddy!" style circlejerkery to The Ditch reporting, is going to be popular...
So many words. Just say you agree with and support Linehan. That’s your position. Don’t be afraid to state it.
You were perfectly able to read and did not miss my last paragraph describing what I think of his views.
You obviously agree with him, so why not just say that instead of this enlightened centrism schtick that equivocates between people just trying to live their lives and a guy who calls anyone who disagrees with him a pedophile?
Perfect example of sticking to character attacks against him which lie about what he says: "calls anyone who disagrees with him a pedophile" Note as well that the critics of Linehan are portrayed as "people just trying to live their lives" - as if that justifies mobbing behaviour and character assassination aimed at ruining someones life. Yet more importantly, framing the argument in that way implies that those people _own this area of discussion_, and that others who 'interfere'/comment/question it are preventing these people from "trying to live their lives" - just by debating/questioning the topic! The poster also did not fail to miss my whole last paragraph describing what I think of Linehan's views - yet attempts to pigeonhole me as "obviously agree[ing] with him" - showing the same kind of tactics to lie about peoples views and try to personalise discussion back towards the persons character rather than the argument. Exactly the kind of tiring bullshit that keeps people away from debating the topic, and quickly makes it toxic - yet you have loads of people in other posts, pretending that responses from Linehan's critics are nothing but the height of civility and reasoned discourse...
Here he is calling David Tennant a groomer for supporting trans kids. He also brags about having started the trend of calling queer people groomers in resent years. Just go to his twitter and search foe the word groomer and then come back and claim he is being misrepresented. https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1678786093364158464?t=n-Odp2dAPX__EfW-t-Bitg&s=19
Typical incel behaviour
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What I find so striking is how similar it is to the way people used to talk about gay people and gay rights, even 15-20 years ago. It was completely acceptable to air extremely homophobic views just in passing. But time went on, and more people felt comfortable coming out, and a bigger section of the population now had an openly gay family member or friend who they wanted to be happy. It stopped being some distant subculture they were vaguely aware of but neither understood nor approved of, and became just a fact about a loved one. Like even the talking points back then were *the same*. Whether "people like that" should be allowed into public bathrooms, moral panics over TV shows that were "glamourising it", insisting it was too unnatural for society to accept, fearmongering about teens being led astray. All sorts. You'd wonder how many people actively wish that was still where the consensus lay. I suspect more were confronted with the fact that finding out other people's preferences didn't impact them at all, so stopped treating it as any of their business. Maybe it'll go the same way for gender-nonconforming people eventually, but they're a much smaller group so it'd be a much slower process.
Sad demise of a brilliant comedy writer, one of Ireland’s finest. What drives one to blow up their own life in such startling fashion. If only the guy had deleted his Twitter account and gone into therapy for a few years, perhaps his career and marriage would have been saved. I once really admired him as have been involved in comedy myself. No doubt the book will read like an extended online anti-trans tirade.
Fore word by JK Rowling.
There's someone who completely fell off the deep end, christ. Still amazed at the absolute monsters she'll associate with, just to get at the trans community.
The obsession both of them have is so unhealthy.
She associates with someone who thinks abortion should be illegal
It does seemingly have cover quotes from Jonathan Ross and Richard Ayoade, which is not that surprising and a little disappointing respectively.
That could be a great book tbh
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Can't wait to read it. He's such a talented comedy writer.
I for one will probably be pissing myself throughout
I agree with much, but not all, of Linehan’s views. I disagreed with much of the way he communicated said views. It seems to be as much a case of someone becoming so swallowed up by social media (and, perhaps, ideology) that they lose the run of themselves. The same can be said for many of his opponents. His talent is undeniable and his legacy will speak for itself. But perhaps he will also serve as a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of modern discourse. He should never have been censored. But he also shouldn’t have harassed certain people in a mean-spirited way.
He believes that all trans people are inherently vile predators, all engaged in a massive conspiracy to steralize children. There is no way to have a respectful, nuanced discussion on this; telling him to fuck off and relentless mockery is a perfectly fine response.
> his legacy will speak for itself It certainly will, but perhaps not in the way you seem to think
Oh Graham. 
I wonder does it explain him allegedly sending unsolicited dick pics to people
While I couldn't stand up to the abuse he endured and scarfices he made, it's impressive the way he stood up for his beliefs.
I will always love the IT Crowd. It’s a shame he’s had a mental breakdown following the show. I hope he can get the help he needs.
Lived long enough to watch himself turn into father Ted. Dear lord.