More than 8,000 complain about GB News show after Laurence Fox comments

An episode of the GB News programme Dan Wootton Tonight has received more than 8,000 complaints, after comments made on air by actor-turned-activist Laurence Fox.

Media regulator Ofcom, which is formally investigating the incident, said it had received a total of 8,846 complaints about the episode of Wootton‘s show on 26 September.

Fox has faced a disciplinary hearing with the channel after making a series of personal remarks about political correspondent Ava Evans, a journalist for the website PoliticsJOE, which were described as “unacceptable, unjustifiable and indefensible”.

One of his comments included asking: “Who would want to shag that?”

Both Fox and Wootton, who could be heard laughing during the episode, were suspended by GB News in the face of an internal inquiry. Wootton apologised after the show, with Fox also eventually saying sorry for the offence caused.

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GB News boss Angelos Frangopoulos said he was “appalled” by the remarks, adding that they were not in keeping with the values of the channel. A third presenter, Calvin Robinson, was later suspended after showing support for Wootton online.

In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge following the broadcast, the chief executive of Ofcom acknowledged there are “real issues around misogyny” in public discourse.

MailOnline later announced it had terminated its contract with Wootton, who was a columnist for the site. His regular column was originally paused in August while the publication investigated allegations he used a pseudonym and offered colleagues money for sexual material.

What did Laurence Fox say?

The row started after Fox, speaking about Ms Evans, said on Wootton’s GB News show: “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?”

Fox made the comments to Wootton following Ms Evans’s appearance on the BBC’s Politics Live show, during which she discussed topics including mental health and was critical of a suggestion there should be a minister for men. The discussion was aired live on GB News.

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After the incident, Ms Evans said she was “really hurt” by Fox’s comments, which were about her “body rather than her work”.

She later said her remarks on the BBC were “a little rash” and that she was “actually very interested in a brief for a minister on young men’s mental health”.

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