Man blackmailed venues including Blackpool's Joe Longthorne Theatre in bid to cancel Katie Hopkins shows

A man has been found guilty of four counts of blackmail after launching a campaign of threats against venues hosting controversial commentator Katie Hopkins in an effort to get her shows cancelled.

Thirty-two-year-old Oliver Hutchings targeted establishments which had booked the righ-wing commentator for her touring show, including the Joe Longthorne Theatre on Blackpool’s North Pier, after objecting to statements she had made regarding homosexual and transgender people.

On August 20, 2026, a jury at Southampton Crown Court convicted Hutchings of all four blackmail charges after hearing how Hutchings contacted venues on Facebook, via email, and by phone, making threats designed to pressure them into cancelling Hopkins’ shows as opposed to boycotting or organising peaceful protests.

Jurors heard that Hutchings, of Denzil Avenue in Southampton, warned venues their events would be deliberately disrupted if they refused to cancel them, threatening to to arrange for people to enter the audience and cause disturbances during performances by shouting, making noise and setting off party poppers.

Hutchings was also alleged to have threatened businesses with complaints about their operations, including accusations that drinks had been watered down and that employee background checks had not been properly carried out. Evidence presented during the case reportedly showed that Hutchings claimed he had previously used similar tactics against venues that had booked comedian Jim Davidson.

Prosecutor Simon Jones previously told the court that Hutchings had claimed to be acting on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and was motivated by his opposition to comments made by Hopkins, with Jones describing the defendant’s actions as a campaign intended to prevent Hopkins from having a platform to speak.

The campaign had significant consequences for businesses and for Hopkins’ tour, with the Joe Longthorne theatre one of numerous venues to cancel planned appearances from the media personality off the back of Hutchings’ actions.

Hopkins herself told the court that the cancellations then spread like “dominos”, with her 2022-23 tour - initially expected to visit around 30 venues - eventually amounting to just five performances, according to Hopkins, who estimated that the cancellations cost her approximately £265,000 in lost earnings.

The prosecution’s case did not concern itself with whether people agreed with Hopkins’ views, focusing instead on whether Hutchings had crossed the line between legitimate protest and criminal conduct by making threatening demands against venues.

At an earlier hearing, Jones told the court that venues had received threats that their businesses would be disrupted and that Hutchings had gone to “extreme lengths” in an attempt to stop the performances. Following the trial, the jury found that those actions amounted to blackmail.

Hutchings has been released on bail while awaiting sentence and is due to return to Southampton Crown Court on 16 October, 2026, when a judge will decide his punishment for the four blackmail offences.