Linehan hits out at author Ronson’s ‘cowardice’ in transgender row
Linehan hits out at author Ronson’s ‘cowardice’ in transgender row
Craig SimpsonSat, August 29, 2026 at 6:58 PM UTC
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Graham Linehan says former friend Jon Ronson is part of a ‘whole social class’ who abandoned him because of his views - Belinda Jiao
Graham Linehan has hit out at the “cowardly liberal class” in a row over gender ideology with an author and former friend.
Linehan, 58, the creator of Father Ted, was “cancelled” after becoming a vocal critic of the belief that self-identification, and not biology, defines men and women.
Now Jon Ronson, a journalist and filmmaker who fell out with Linehan over the issue, has written a new book, The Castle, which includes a chapter analysing their rift.
It reflects on Linehan’s motivations for opposing gender ideology, including what Ronson describes as his “anger”, and a “tremendous” psychological wound.
In his book, Jon Ronson describes an angry hand gesture by Linehan as ‘particularly disturbing’ - Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock
In the book, Ronson also expresses his opinions on the entertainment industry ostracising Linehan as a result of his views, and on the breakdown of his marriage.
The author has included in it a photograph illustrating an angry hand gesture once used by Linehan, which Ronson said he found particularly disturbing.
Responding to the publication, Linehan accused Ronson of dodging the transgender debate while he suffered for years by sticking his head above the parapet.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said: “Jon Ronson isn’t just one person who failed a friend.
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“He’s representative of an entire species, a whole social class of journalist, comedian and commentator who worked out that staying quiet while people they knew were destroyed for saying 2+2=4 was the best way to maintain a comfortable career.”
He added: “My lawyers will be reading his chapter about me carefully, but my instinct is not to sue him, and to let it stand exactly as written, a signed confession, an indictment of him and the cowardly, careerist, mendacious class of people who could roughly gather under the title ‘Graham Linehan’s old friends and colleagues’.”
Linehan has gone on to accuse “men like Ronson” of ducking years of debate about the impact of gender ideology, particularly on children, in order to stay pally with the “dinner party circuit”, which would otherwise close to them “like a nervous sphincter”.
Graham Linehan and Jon Ronson on stage together in London in 2010 - Stew Dean
During their friendship, Linehan invited Ronson to recordings of shows such as Father Ted and the IT Crowd.
Ronson has argued in his book that the friendship became strained because Linehan was consumed with anger over the transgender debate, and lost all “polite, mannered civility” as he campaigned against gender ideology online.
He claims that he was a victim of Linehan’s social media activism and attacks, and that this online activity ultimately cost the comedy writer his marriage.
While promoting his BBC Radio 4 podcast Things Fell Apart, Ronson said in an interview that his former friend was a “brilliant comedy writer who got too embroiled in the culture wars, and it completely took over his life”.
Linehan has felt betrayed by those in his friendship circle whom he said stayed silent as he was “painted as a monster”, while backing away from what he sees as the absurdity of the transgender position – men and women being able to change gender.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said he was shocked to find that some friends “would rather watch us go under than say a true sentence out loud”.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
