I'm pretty sure from his comedy writing he didn't used to be a Tory. Back in 2014 during the "gamergate" era he was firmly on the progressive side of things. Something broke in his brain a few years back over trans issues, and he alienated everyone from his fellow writers, comedy actors and fans and just kept doubling down to the point no one wants he other than the worse elements of the nasty party.
Something broke in his brain a few years back over trans issues, and he alienated everyone from his fellow writers, comedy actors and fans and just kept doubling down to the point no one wants he other than the worse elements of the nasty party.
Yes, he fell down a conspiracy rabbit hole when the only people who'd give him the time of day were the Terrible People. Appearing at a Tory conference is a clear sign how far he has fallen.
It's all very sad as he's one of my favourite comedy writers of recent years.
I'm often the odd one out in thinking this, but I thought The IT Crowd was generic, derivative shite, and I was dismayed that people of the calibre of Chris Morris were involved with it at the time. I cannot make my way through a whole episode.
I thought it was the anti-Big Bang Theory. The nerdy people I knew in real life were much more like Moss and Roy than any of the 1980s stereotypes in BBT.
His trajectory is a lot like that of JK Rowling and Dave Chappelle. Born comfortably off (but not super-wealthy), socially liberal by default without needing to think very hard at all about it, very successful because they are genuinely good at what they do, torpedoing themselves because they're unable to deal with mild criticism over some lazy-minded transphobia.
An episode of The IT Crowd from 2008 has been criticised over its transgender plot line.
This is what kicked Linehan off. Instead of listening and learning, he buried himself in self-justification and ended up palling around with the far right.
The odd thing is that there was little chatter over that episode when it came out, I've only seen people talk about it after Linehan went bonkers.
For what it's worth, despite the problematic elements, I still think it's a well written and funny episode. I'm smart enough to know that what's played for comedy on TV isn't applicable to real life or actual trans people.