Piers Morgan has called Laurence Fox a “disgusting piece of misogynist trash” over his on-air remarks about journalist Ava Evans.
Fox, 45, has been suspended by GB News after he made a series of derogatory comments about Evans, a political correspondent for the online news site Joe, during a live interview with Dan Wootton on the right-leaning channel.
“Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever, ever, who wasn’t an incel,” Fox declared of Evans on Tuesday night (26 September).
Fox – who has since said he stands by “every word” of his misogynistic rant – continued: “We need powerful, strong amazing women who make great points for themselves. We don’t need these sort of feminists 4.0. They’re pathetic and embarrassing. Who’d want to shag that?”
Wootton, who laughed at the comments, responded: “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.
“And she’s a very beautiful woman, Laurence, very beautiful woman.”
Evans responded to the interaction shortly after it aired, writing on Twitter: “Laurence Fox just did a whole speech on GB News on why men apparently won’t shag me?”
Evans added that she felt “physically sick” over the comments.
Morgan, 58, is among those condemning the Lewis star for his remarks, which were made in response to Evans’ recent statements during an episode of BBC Politics Live about male mental health on Monday (25 September).
“Ava is a very talented journalist and delightful person,” wrote the former Good Morning Britain presenter on Twitter on Tuesday (26 September). “Fox is a disgusting piece of misogynist trash.”
Conservative peer Daniel Filkenstein echoed his sentiments, writing: “Oh my God this is truly appalling. Even for the two individuals involved, this was a new low.”
Conservative MP Philip Davies, who also hosts a show on GB News, called the remarks “completely unacceptable, unjustifiable and indefensible”.
Presenter Carol Vorderman added “there is seemingly no bar too low for the so-called news channel GB News”.
Following criticism over his failure to challenge his guest, Wootton apologised to Evans for a “very unfortunate lapse in judgement”.
Admitting that he should have “intervened immediately to challenge offensive and misogynistic remarks”, Wooton said he was reacting “out of shock and surprise”.
In a follow-up, he wrote on social media: “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.”
Actor Laurence Fox has scored a victory during the latest preliminary stage of a libel fight with ex-Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp (PA)— (PA Archive)
GB News has apologised to Evans and launched an investigation into the “totally unacceptable” comments made by Fox.
Communications regulator Ofcom has said it is assessing “a number of complaints” following the remarks.
“We can confirm we’ve received a number of complaints about comments made by Laurence Fox on GB News last night,” a spokesperson for Ofcom said. “We are assessing these complaints against our broadcast rules and will publish the outcome as quickly as possible.”
Fox has been repeatedly involved in controversies over his public comments and political stance. In September 2019, he launched his Reclaim political party to fight so-called “culture wars” and lead people who are “tired of being told that we represent the very thing we have, in history, stood together against”.
The Independent has contacted GB News and representatives for Evans, Fox and Wootton for further comment.
