Dan Wootton has been suspended from GB News in the UK following remarks made by Laurence Fox on the broadcaster's show about a female journalist which have been described as "unacceptable, unjustifiable and indefensible".
Speaking on Tuesday during an appearance on Dan Wootton Tonight, actor-turned-politician Fox made a series of remarks about Ava Evans, the political correspondent for online news site Joe.
In a statement, the channel said: "GB News has suspended Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox last night.
"This follows our decision earlier today to formally suspend Mr Fox. We are conducting a full investigation."
GB News has suspended Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox last night.
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 27, 2023
This follows our decision earlier today to formally suspend Mr Fox.
We are conducting a full investigation.
Earlier on Wednesday, GB News announced that Fox was suspended and no longer broadcasting on the channel.
The channel said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter: "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 has formally suspended Laurence Fox while we continue our investigation into comments he made on the channel last night.
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 27, 2023
Mr Fox's suspension is effective immediately and he has been taken off air.
We will be apologising formally to Ms Evans today.
Responding to the backlash over his comments, Fox said he stands "by every word of what I said" and writing on X told his more than 400,000 followers that people should not "take a pop" at Wootton and added: "I stand by every word of what I said."
Adding that "the new woke world is low on laughter and high on offence", he said it was still worth "trying to find the lighter moments in this joyless new cancel culture which has been created for us".
He added: "So if you are expecting a grovelling apology, I suggest you don’t hold your breath. I won’t ever apologise to the mob."
After the show, GB News said it has launched an investigation, branding Fox’s comments "totally unacceptable", and adding: "What he said does not reflect our values and we apologise unreservedly for the comments and the offence they have caused."
The show’s host Wootton apologised in a follow-up post to an earlier apology, writing on X: "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.
"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."
He added: "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."
I want to reiterate my regret over last night's exchange with Laurence on GB News.
— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) September 27, 2023
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.
I reacted…
Evans, a former producer at LBC, shared a clip of the comments on social media site X (aka Twitter), which has been viewed more than five million times as of Wednesday morning.
In a follow-up tweet to her nearly 100,000 followers she added that the footage made her feel "physically sick".
The discussion on GB News came after Evans had appeared on BBC’s Politics Live on Monday.
In a statement to the PA News agency, an Ofcom (the UK's communication regulator) spokesperson said: "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."
Fox, who was previously married to actress Billie Piper, founded the Reclaim Party in October 2020 after an appearance on the BBC’s Question Time earlier that year, which the actor said resulted in him being "cancelled from a 21-year acting career".
Source: Press Association
