The actor Laurence Fox has told a libel trial at London’s high court that his life was “destroyed” by “hurtful” racism allegations and he was left unable to get a mortgage.
The Reclaim party founder was giving evidence in a case brought over an exchange on Twitter, now known as X, about a decision by the supermarket Sainsbury’s to provide a safe space for black employees during Black History Month.
Fox, 45, called for a boycott of the supermarket in October 2020 and was called a racist by Crystal, a drag artist, Simon Blake, a former Stonewall trustee, and Nicola Thorp, an actor.
He subsequently termed each of the trio as a “paedophile”, prompting the libel action by Blake and the drag star, who is also known as Colin Seymour. Fox, who denies being a racist, is countersuing the three over their tweets.
In written evidence, the actor said he was “horrified” when he saw that he had been called a racist, which he later described as “a career-ending word, and a reputation-destroying allegation”.
He claimed that by 2020 he was earning at least £500,000 to £600,000 a year from acting but his “life was destroyed by what they did” and he became a target.
Faeces were posted through his door and his ex-wife Billie Piper, the actor and singer, was concerned that their two children were no longer safe in the house, he said. He lost his agent and experienced a dramatic drop in his income such that “I couldn’t get a mortgage”.
Fox said he faced similar issues to Nigel Farage being debanked, with his bank “regularly questioning” legitimate transactions and claimed his car insurance premium had increased by nearly £9,000.
Lorna Skinner KC, representing Blake, Seymour and Thorp, said earlier that the trio “honestly believed, and continue honestly to believe, that Mr Fox is a racist”.
In written submissions, the barrister said Fox “has made a number of highly controversial statements about race” and that if his reputation had been harmed “it is his own conduct and not the claimants’ comments on it that caused that harm”.
Fox said of his boycott call that he felt the supermarket had been “emotionally blackmailing” and that “rather than genuinely trying to tackle racism, Sainsbury’s were trying to improve their own image, branding themselves as the anti-racist supermarket.”
He said: “I see the phrase ‘safe space’ as just locally friendly language for discrimination by segregation, dividing people down the line of skin colour.”
He said he believed Black History Month was “a grift, designed to make black people feel like they’re in some way undervalued in our society”, and he called the Black Lives Matter movement “extremely divisive”.
Skinner previously highlighted several of Fox’s social media posts, including a June 2022 tweet of four pride flags arranged in the shape of a swastika. “Such a disgusting post could only be made by a complete ignoramus or an intelligent racist with an agenda. Mr Fox is the latter,” she said.
Later discussing comments he had made about the Duchess of Sussex and the reaction she received from the media, Fox said in his written evidence: “I felt at the time, and still feel, that attributing all of the issues the Duke and Duchess of Sussex faced to racism is lazy.”
He added in his oral evidence that, at first, “I didn’t think [Meghan] was mixed race, I thought she was tanned … not that it makes any difference”.
Fox said he did not have a problem with people of different sexualities. “The streets of London are covered with the pride flag yet nobody is allowed to criticise it. I was making the point that the only other flag in history that society was not allowed to criticise was the Nazi flag,” he said.
The trial is due to conclude this week and a decision is expected at a later date.
