Graham Linehan will face no further action after being arrested over social media posts about transgender people.
The Father Ted and IT Crowd creator said his lawyers had been told the case wouldn’t proceed. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the move.
Linehan was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence when he landed at Heathrow from his home in the US on 1 September.
The incident drew criticism of the police and government from some politicians and supporters.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said his officers were in an “impossible position” and should not be “policing toxic culture wars debates”.
Posting on X, Linehan, 57, said: “After a successful hearing to get my bail conditions lifted (one which the police officer in charge of the case didn’t even bother to attend) the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped the case.
“With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.”
The union is now planning to sue Met Police for wrongful arrest.
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Graham Linehan talks to Sky News about free speech
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said it had carefully reviewed the police file and decided “no further action should be taken”.
In one of the posts he was questioned about, Linehan wrote: “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.”
He said on his Substack blog that five armed officers were involved in his arrest and that he had to be taken to A&E after his blood pressure reached “stroke territory” during his interrogation.
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Police said the guns were never drawn and were only present as Linehan was detained by the aviation unit, which routinely carries firearms.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who’s regularly shared her views on women’s rights in relation to transgender rights, called the arrest “utterly deplorable”.
Reform leader Nigel Farage, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, and senior Tory Sir James Clevery were among politicians who also criticised the incident.
