Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has threatened to take legal action against an Edinburgh Fringe venue which axed his stand-up show due to his views on gender.
The Leith Arches said it had not been aware that a speaker, lined up to perform at an “edgy comedy” night alongside other controversial acts, was Mr Linehan, who has become well known over recent years for taking an outspoken stance on trans rights.
The venue said some of its customers had been “rightly outraged” that it was to provide a platform to the writer and that his presence would ”violate our space”.
He had been billed as a “surprise famous cancelled comedian” but the venue cancelled the show after learning that this referred to Mr Linehan.
Speaking to TalkTV on Wednesday morning, he said the sell-out show had been axed within a few hours of reports that he was set to appear.
“You do get used to this kind of thing after a while,” Mr Linehan, 55, said. “It never really makes you feel good.
“The only good thing about it is that it’s drawing more attention to the fact that, essentially, a group of highly ideological cultists have taken over institutions across society.
“If they apologise and put the gig on, I’ll say no more about it but otherwise, I’ll be looking at legal action.”
The event had been organised by the promoter Comedy Unleashed, which bills itself as “the home of free-thinking comedy” and is opposed to censorship. The show on Thursday was promoted with the tagline “edgy comedy is back.”
Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP who saw her own fringe show cancelled earlier this year due to her gender critical views only to have it reinstated after she threatened legal action, said Mr Linehan would have a strong legal case for discrimination.
She said: “Someone in a position of political or cultural leadership needs to call this out or Edinburgh, the home of the enlightenment, is in danger of becoming an unlawful discrimination & anti free speech hotspot.”
Comedians who had been advertised to appear included Mary Bourke, who has previously made light of so-called “gender inclusive language” in the health service, which has seen terms such as “people with a cervix” used to describe women.
Alistair Williams, who was also booked, has been described as “Britain’s most cancelled comedian”.
Some comedians offered support to the venue, with Jo Caulfield, who has appeared on BBC’s Mock the Week, saying she was “especially proud” to live in Leith, following the cancellation of the show.
Mr Linehan, who also helped create popular comedies Black Books and The IT Crowd, made his stand-up debut in February, at another Comedy Unleashed event in London.
Andy Shaw, the co-founder of Comedy Unleashed, rejected claims that he should have been open with the venue that Mr Linehan was the “surprise famous cancelled comedian” referred to.
“With Edinburgh being the heart of the Enlightenment and the Edinburgh Comedy Festival being the biggest comedy festival in the world… you wouldn’t expect it,” he told BBC Radio Scotland.
“When are people going to learn their lessons, and venues actually stand up for free expression in the arts?”
Asked why he had not given the venue a “heads up” that Mr Linehan would be on the show, he said: “You want people to pre-vet acts? To submit a script as if you’re in Stalinist [Russia].”
Leith Arches posted a revised 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.
“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.”