Former Television Writer Graham Linehan Dropped By Agent for Transphobia

Embattled transphobic writer Graham Linehan was recently dropped by his agent for hateful comments he made regarding beloved Scottish actor David Tennant.

Tennant is a renowned actor in the U.K. and U.S., having first risen to fame for playing the 10th (and now 14th) Doctor on Doctor Who, but he’s also known for his work on shows such as Broadchurch, Good Omens, and Jessica Jones. While promoting Good Omens, Tennant was seen wearing a shirt that read “Leave Trans Kids Alone You Absolute Freaks,” an issue near and dear to Tennant’s heart because of his nonbinary child, Wilfred.

In a tweet last July, Linehan called the actor “Disgusting, ignorant, reckless” for wearing the shirt and supporting his nonbinary child, and, when called out on it by an account called Bad Writing Takes, Linehan doubled down and called both Bad Writing Takes and David Tennant “abusive groomers.”

Linehan is known for being the creator or co-creator of three of the funniest British/Irish sitcoms in history: Father Ted, Black Books, and The IT Crowd. However, recently the television writer has become an obsessive transphobe and is dedicating nearly all of his energy towards being cruel and hateful towards transgender people. According to The Guardian, Linehan was banned from Twitter in 2020 for “repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation,” including not just hateful comments about trans people in general, but specific attacks on individual trans people on Twitter.

However, City A.M. reports that Linehan was allowed back on Twitter following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform. In an interview with The Times, Linehan also said that the backlash to his comments led to the end of his marriage and his career.

According to NME, at a panel at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on October 1, Linehan mentioned in his comments that he was dropped by his agency, Independent Talent, because of his comments about Tennant. Linehan claims the motivation was the fact that Independent Talent represents Tennant as well, and they favored the celebrity who made more money.

“I only found this out later because I looked at the list of people Independent Talent represented, and David Tennant was at the top,” Linehan is reported as saying. “And he’s making slightly more money than me at the moment, so I had to go.” Considering that Linehan basically hasn’t worked in film or television since 2017 and David Tennant is currently helming both Season 2 of Good Omens and the upcoming 60th anniversary special of Doctor Who next month, it’s likely that Tennant is earning a lot more money than Linehan, not “slightly more.”