Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has released audio from the moment he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence over a series of gender-critical posts on social media.
Bafta-winning Linehan, 57, has said he was detained by five officers immediately after he stepped off the plane from Arizona. He claimed he had been held for “three tweets”.
The news sparked backlash from a number of high-profile figures, including author JK Rowling and tech billionaire Elon Musk.
One of Linehan’s posts on X from April 20 said: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
A second tweet, on April 19, was a picture of a trans rally with the caption: “A photo you can smell.”
The third was a follow up to this tweet which said: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
Releasing the audio of his arrest on his Substack blog on Wednesday, a police officer could be heard telling Linehan: “It is alleged that on the 19th April 2025 you published a post on X intended to instill hatred and incite violence.”
He is then told he is under arrest for the social media posts. In response, Linehan can be heard shouting: “It’s just disgraceful. Holy s**t, I don't f***ing believe it. I'm under arrest!? I'm going to sue you into the ground. How dare you?”
The Irish writer is then heard being told to “calm down” by police and he can be heard responding: “I won’t calm down.”
Linehan is then quizzed about whether he is on any medication. After a brief pause, he yells: “It's f***ing infuriating. You scumbags are working for f***ing ***holes who go into women's toilets.”
He later criticises the police for targeting him for “standing up for women’s rights”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is expected to raise the issue in front of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington on Wednesday, when he will say Britain has become an “authoritarian censorship regime”.
Tesla owner Musk condemned the arrest by describing the UK as a “police state”.
He re-tweeted a post by Rowling, in which she described the arrest as an example of “totalitarianism” and “utterly deplorable”.
Police state https://t.co/jK1HSKLpGd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2025
The Metropolitan police did not identify Linehan but a spokesperson said: “On Monday, 1 September, at 1pm officers arrested a man at Heathrow airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight.
“The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. This is in relation to posts on X.
“After being taken to police custody, officers became concerned for his health and he was taken to hospital.
“His condition is neither life-threatening nor life-changing. He has now been bailed pending further investigation.
“The arrest was made by officers from the MPS aviation unit. It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
Linehan claimed he was later escorted to hospital A&E “because the stress nearly killed me”, adding his blood pressure was recorded at over 200mmHg by a nurse.
Describing his dramatic arrest on his blog, Linehan wrote: “The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.”
He added: “I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online—all because I made jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers.”
Legal and regulatory monitoring of social media posts has been a contentious topic in recent months, particularly over gender-critical views and opinions on immigration.
Musk has been an outspoken figure on the X platform, especially over his criticism of liberal views and policies.
He referred to the case of Lucy Connolly, a British woman who was jailed for inciting racial hatred in the aftermath of the Southport terror attack, as “madness” in a post on X last month.
On the day of the murder of three children by Axel Rudakubana in Southport, Connolly wrote: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.”
She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing “threatening or abusive” written material on X.
Downing Street declined to comment directly on Linehan’s arrest.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said the arrest was “an operational matter for the police”.
He added: “The prime minister and the home secretary have been clear about where their priorities for crime and policing are, and that’s tackling antisocial behaviour, shoplifting, street crime, as well as reducing serious violent crimes like knife crime and violence against women.”
Other high-profile figures have criticised Linehan’s arrest including former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who called it “ridiculous and a complete waste of police time.”
Labour backbencher Jonathan Hinder said the arrest showed the need for a “serious reset to get the priorities right” in policing, while Independent MP Rupert Lowe said: “I stand with Linehan.”
