Chris O’Dowd Says He Wishes Graham Linehan Was Writing More After ‘The IT Crowd’ Creator Was “Canceled” Over His Transgender Views

Bridesmaids star Chris O’Dowd has said that he wishes Graham Linehan was writing more after The IT Crowd creator claimed he was canceled for his transgender views.

O’Dowd shot to fame in The IT Crowd and told The Times of London that he still gets a lot of love for the comedy, which was broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 between 2006 and 2013.

The Irish actor said he remains in contact with Linehan and wishes the writer had not been shunned by the industry after expressing gender-critical beliefs.

“I wish he was writing more, and I wish he was in the industry more. I think he’s the best comedy writer I’ve worked with,” O’Dowd said.

“I don’t necessarily want to get into his views, but I do think that it’s a shame that more people don’t go and talk to him about them because — whether I agree with them or not — they’re not peripheral.

“I know the press is trying to make loads of money out of all of the division, but don’t actually want to go and talk to him about it and I think that’s a shame.”

Linehan, who co-created beloved UK series including Father Ted and Motherland, revealed last year that he was moving to America to create a comedy with Deuce Bigalow star Rob Schneider and Andrew Doyle, a satirist who has appeared on GB News.

Linehan did not reveal details about the project but said: “It’s not anti-woke comedy, which I think many people would be expecting because I think that’s going to be as dead an end as the woke movement itself is, because all of this nonsense is going to seem out of date in a couple of years.”