GB News suspends Laurence Fox after sick rant about female journalist
GB News have suspended Laurence Fox following vile comments made by the former actor during a broadcast on Tuesday night.
The statement from GB News this morning reads: "GB News has formally suspended Laurence Fox while we continue our investigation into comments he made on the channel last night. Mr Fox’s suspension is effective immediately and he has been taken off air. We will be apologising formally to Ms Evans today."
GB News suspending Fox comes just moments on from the former actor taking to Twitter to stand by his comments and refuse to issue "a grovelling apology". Within the lengthy statement, Fox told his followers: "If you are expecting a grovelling apology, I suggest you don’t hold your breath. I won’t ever apologise to the mob."
Dad-of-two Fox has been condemned by multiple MPs following his appearance on Dan Wootton Tonight, in which the dad-of-two made several crude and derogatory remarks about female journalist Ava Evans. Media regulator Ofcom confirmed on Wednesday morning that they had received "a number of complaints" regarding Fox's rant.
Laurence Fox made the sickening comments during his appearance on Dan Wootton Tonight on Tuesday (Twitter)Fox made a series of remarks about journalist Ava Evans during an episode of Dan Wootton Tonight, including describing her as a "little woman" and saying: "We don’t need these sort of feminist 4.0" who, he said, are "pathetic and embarrassing", adding: "Who would want to shag that?"
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During the GB News broadcast on Tuesday night, Wootton and Fox discussed Ms Evans comments made by the former LBC producer during her appearance BBC Politics Live on Monday, with the journalist attracting attention due to her remarks about men's mental health. Following her appearance on the BBC show, Ms Evans tweeted: "I was a little rash on my anti-minister for men comments which I do regret and am actually very interested in a brief for a minister on young men’s mental health."
Tuesday's edition of Dan Wootton Tonight saw the strapline on the screen read: "Smirking Face of Disdain", with the text under it reading: "Hard-left commentator slammed for shrugging off male suicide crisis". Speaking to Wootton via video link, Fox discussed Ms Evans and said: "We’re past the watershed so I can say this: show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman, ever, ever, who wasn’t an Incel?
"That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day after day… starting with the lie of the gender wage gap, and she’s sat there and I’m going, if I met you in a bar and that was like sentence three, chances of me just walking away are just huge. We need powerful strong amazing women who make great points for themselves, we don’t need these sort of feminist 4.0… they’re pathetic and embarrassing. Who would want to shag that?"
Journalist Ava Evans said she felt 'physically sick' following Fox's comments about her on GB News (Twitter)Laughing, Wootton replied: "Well, look, she, I’m just going to provide a touch of balance from her because she did actually respond to this earlier today, saying that she regretted her comments but she didn’t apologise." The New Zealand born broadcaster added: "And she’s a very beautiful woman, Laurence, very beautiful woman."
Wootton went on to apologise for not condemning Fox during the broadcast, with the New Zealand born journalist telling his Twitter followers on Wednesday morning: "I want to reiterate my regret over last night’s exchange with Laurence on GB News. Having looked at the footage, I can see how inappropriate my reaction to his totally unacceptable remarks appears to be and want to be clear that I was in no way amused by the comments," the controversial journalist told his followers.
The controversial journalist continued: "I reacted as I did out of shock and surprise in an off-guard moment while working out how to respond as he continued to speak by searching for tweets @AvaSantina had sent earlier in the day while having them read out in my ear at the same time. However, I should have intervened immediately to challenge offensive and misogynistic remarks.
"I apologise unreservedly for what was a very unfortunate lapse in judgment on my part under the intense pressure of a bizarre exchange. I know I should have done better. I’m devastated that I let down the team and our supportive GBN family. We seek to tackle the issue and not the person, which I intend to stress again on air tonight."
Ms Evans shared a clip of the exchange between Wootton and Fox with her Twitter followers on Tuesday night, captioning it: "Laurence Fox just did a whole speech on GB News on why men apparently won’t shag me?" In an additional tweet, Ms Evans added: "I feel physically sick."
Media regulator Ofcom received "a number of complaints" regarding Fox's comments on Tuesday night, with an Ofcom spokesperson telling PA News agency on Wednesday morning: "We can confirm we’ve received a number of complaints about comments made by Laurence Fox on GB News last night. We are assessing these complaints against our broadcast rules and will publish the outcome as quickly as possible."
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