Laurence Fox, the actor and founder of the Reclaim party, has issued an apology to the journalist Ava Evans for his ‘demeaning’ comments about her on GB News. Fox posted a 15-minute video on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday evening, saying he was sorry for insulting her during a discussion on the Dan Wootton Tonight programme on Tuesday.
Fox said he was angry with Evans for her views on male suicide, which he claimed showed a ‘dislike of men in general’, but admitted that his remarks were ‘not representative of who I am’. He said he should have said that any self-respecting man would avoid a woman who possessed that worldview, instead of asking: ‘Who would want to shag that?’ He also said he expected to be sacked by GB News on Friday over the incident, and accused the channel of being the ‘home of cancel culture’.
Fox’s comments sparked outrage and complaints to Ofcom
Fox’s comments about Evans were made during a debate on male suicide, which was prompted by a BBC programme featuring Evans and other journalists. Fox claimed that Evans had blamed men for their own deaths and suggested that they should ‘man up’. He also said that she was ‘spoon-fed oppression’ by the ‘lie’ of the gender pay gap, and that she was ‘pathetic and embarrassing’.
Fox’s comments were met with widespread condemnation on social media, and prompted about 7,300 complaints to Ofcom, the media regulator. Ofcom said it had launched an investigation into the programme, which it said included ‘potentially offensive content’. GB News also announced that it had suspended Fox and Wootton pending an internal review.
Wootton apologised for his reaction but was sacked by MailOnline
Dan Wootton, the host of the programme, also faced criticism for his reaction to Fox’s comments. Wootton appeared to smile and laugh when Fox made his remarks, and did not challenge or interrupt him. Wootton later apologised to Evans on X, saying he was ‘attempting to find your tweets to read back from my iPad and couldn’t locate them’. He said he should have intervened immediately to challenge Fox’s ‘offensive and misogynistic remarks’.
Wootton also claimed that he was not amused by Fox’s comments, but reacted out of shock and surprise in an off-guard moment. He said he was under intense pressure while working out how to respond as he continued to speak by searching for tweets Evans had sent earlier in the day while having them read out in his ear at the same time. However, his apology did not save him from being sacked by MailOnline, where he had a contract to write two columns a week.
Evans thanked people for their support and said she felt physically sick
Ava Evans, the political correspondent for The Independent, thanked people for their support and solidarity after Fox’s comments. She said she had received an apology from GB News, and that she hoped the incident would lead to a wider discussion about misogyny and sexism in the media. She also said she felt physically sick after hearing Fox’s comments, and that she was shocked by Wootton’s reaction.
Evans said she had participated in the BBC programme on male suicide to raise awareness and empathy for the issue, and that she had never blamed men for their own deaths or suggested that they should ‘man up’. She said she had spoken about the need for more funding and support for mental health services, and the role of toxic masculinity in preventing men from seeking help. She also said she was proud of being a feminist and a journalist, and that she would not be silenced by Fox or anyone else.
