Rowan Atkinson

Atkinson, an early adopter of electric vehicles, wrote that he felt "duped" by certain environmental promises about EVs and argued for extending the life of existing cars.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

Atkinson compared cancel culture and the polarising algorithms of social media to a "medieval mob looking for someone to burn", reigniting debate over freedom of expression and responsibility.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

Atkinson defended Boris Johnson on grounds of humour following the latter's remarks about women wearing the burqa, considering the comparison with a letterbox a legitimate subject for a joke.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Atkinson became a prominent figure in the campaign to remove the word "insulting" from section 5 of the Public Order Act, which he considered too vague and threatening to freedom of expression.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

A Comic Relief sketch in which Atkinson played a fake Archbishop of Canterbury generated several thousand complaints to the BBC and hundreds to Ofcom.

State of the evidence

Documented

A sketch in which Atkinson played a vicar turning Jesus's miracles into "party tricks" prompted approximately 540 complaints to the BBC and Ofcom.

State of the evidence

Documented

Atkinson opposed British proposals to criminalise incitement to religious hatred for several years, arguing that overly broad wording risked criminalising satire and criticism of religions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated