Laurence Fox loses High Court libel case over social media row
Mr Fox expressed his desire to contest his counter-argument.
Laurence Fox has been unsuccessful in his legal case against two individuals he accused of being paedophiles on social media. The case was heard in the High Court.
The personality who was once an actor but later ventured into politics was taken to court by a former trustee of Stonewall named Simon Blake and a drag artist identified as Crystal.
During a conversation on X (previously known as Twitter), Mr. Fox made a derogatory comment about Sainsbury's decision to recognize Black History Month by referring to them as "paedophiles."
Mrs. Justice Collins Rice, a judge in the High Court, declared that Mr. Fox's use of labeling was untrue, damaging, and without any foundation.
According to her, he failed to prove in court that the accusations were accurate. She also mentioned that there are minimal legal defenses for this type of slander.
According to Mr. Seymour's statement in court, he, being a Canadian artist, experienced profound and upsetting mistreatment following Mr. Fox's social media post.
He stated that he didn't feel as secure when performing in drag due to Mr. Fox's accusations.
According to Mr Blake, who is currently leading Mental Health First Aid England, the inaccurate and unfounded belief that gay men are child abusers has been around for a very long time. It is a well-known and overused stereotype.
The founder of the Reclaim Party, who declared earlier that he would abstain from shopping at the supermarket, filed a lawsuit against Mr. Blake and the past participant of RuPaul's Drag Race, whose actual name is Colin Seymour. The lawsuit was filed in response to a series of tweets that accused him of being racist.
Mr Fox also tried to take legal action against Nicola Thorp, who works as a broadcaster, for the same grounds.
The judge refrained from making a decision on whether Mr Fox being called "a racist" was completely true. Instead, they determined that the three tweets mentioned in his counter-claim were not severe enough to cause any significant damage to his reputation.
Laurence Fox, while standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice, expressed his opinion about the ruling on his libel case, describing it as insignificant.
He expressed that they would need to return to court and file an appeal in order to obtain a clear explanation of the word.
Who qualifies as a racist? Everyone in this country is aware of the meaning of a racist, except for those who hold the majority of power in all our national institutions.
After the decision was announced, Crystal shared in a message on X that she was feeling extremely relieved about the outcome. She expressed that she had been carrying a heavy burden for over three years but now, that weight has been lifted.
Once more, I want to emphasize that I did not derive any pleasure from initiating this case, nor did I do it without serious consideration. If Mr. Fox would have offered a sincere apology and reached a settlement early on, this matter could have been resolved promptly.
He said, "My desire is that this will bring about a change in the continuous mistreatment of LGBTQ individuals as 'groomers' or 'threatening'."
We refuse to accept this as a learning experience.
On X, Ms Thorp expressed that Mr Fox should acknowledge that he is solely responsible for any harm caused to his reputation.
Until recently, Mr Fox used to present a GB News show every week. However, due to the controversial remarks he made about a female journalist while on air, he was subsequently fired following a public uproar.
In the past, people recognized him for his prominent characters, such as DS James Hathaway in the ITV program Lewis. This series was a derivative of Inspector Morse and concluded in 2015.
Recently, the 45-year-old has been spending more time on politics. He has two children with his former spouse, Billie Piper.
He attempted to run for the position of London mayor under The Reclaim Party in 2021, but unfortunately did not succeed. Additionally, in June, he participated in the by-election for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, a seat that was formerly occupied by Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister.
