“Bruised but not beaten, he explains why he chose the hill of women and girls’ rights to die on – and why, despite the hardship of cancellation, he’s not coming down from it any time soon.”
Graham Linehan's new book, Tough Crowd, is still a month away from being released on Amazon, but that hasn't stopped it from flying up the charts. With pre-orders alone, the Irish comedian's memoir currently sits at number one in the performing arts category, and second in all books on Amazon UK's bestseller list.
The book details how Lineham "made and lost a career in comedy," with the latter half focused on the backlash he faced for coming out as a staunch and unapologetic supporter of women's and girls's rights.
https://twitter.com/glinner/status/1702563854406860921
"Holy moly!" he said after learning via X that Tough Crowd had rocketed to the top of the charts.
It was pointed out that because Amazon doesn't take into consideration the purchases made directly via the publisher, the actual number of copies sold was likely much higher.
Linehan, who co-created a number of popular series including Father Ted, has won five Baftas and a lifetime achievement award. As the description notes, however, "his life took an unexpected turn" when he began championing the "unfashionable cause" of protecting women and girls from the modern gender movement.
His activism led to setbacks on both the professional and personal level; network executives and fellow performers ceased communicating with him, and his marriage fell apart.
"In an emotionally charged memoir that is by turns hilarious and harrowing, he lets us into the secrets of the writing room and colourfully describes the high-octane atmosphere of a sitcom set," the description continues. "But he also berates an industry where there was no one to stand by his side when he needed help."
"Bruised but not beaten, he explains why he chose the hill of women and girls' rights to die on – and why, despite the hardship of cancellation, he's not coming down from it any time soon."
In 2020, BBC's Channel 4 removed a 2008 episode of The IT Crowd written by Linehan in which a man discovers that his girlfriend is transgender. The comedian defended the bit, calling it "harmless."
Since then, he has been a vocal critic of transgender ideology and the impact it has had on society, especially in the performing arts. He has repeatedly expressed support for those suffering from gender dysphoria and discouraged medical interventions on children who claim to be the opposite sex.
His comments have got him repeatedly suspended from Twitter and eventually banned, however under Elon Musk, his account was reinstated.
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