Laurence Fox told to pay £180,000 in libel damages
The source of the picture is PA Media.
Laurence Fox was instructed to hand over £90,000 in compensation to a pair of individuals he labeled as "paedophiles."
The person who used to be an actor and is now a politician lost a legal case in the High Court that involved accusations of slander against Simon Blake, a former member of Stonewall's board of trustees, and also against a drag performer known as Crystal.
During a conversation about Sainsbury's recognition of Black History Month, comments were made about X, which was previously known as Twitter.
According to Mrs. Justice Collins Rice, the remarks made were extremely offensive, baseless and impossible to justify.
Mr. Fox expressed his intentions to file an appeal in a post he made following the decision.
The person who founded the Reclaim Party declared that he would refuse to shop at Sainsbury's. He then took legal action against two individuals who accused him of being racist on Twitter. Furthermore, he also attempted to sue journalist Nicola Thorp for making similar accusations.
Back in January, Mr Blake and an ex-contestant of RuPaul's Drag Race by the name Colin Seymour, or Crystal, received a favorable ruling from the court. The court rejected Mr Fox's counter-accusations.
The judge did not come to a decision about whether or not it was accurate to refer to Mr. Fox as "a racist." This was because the judge determined that the three tweets mentioned in the argument against Mr. Fox were not likely to severely damage his reputation.
Mrs. Justice Collins Rice made a written statement on Thursday declaring that Mr. Fox publicly mistreated Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour by labeling them as pedophiles, which they did not deserve.
The statement made against them was completely untrue, baseless, and unjustifiable. It caused them a lot of anguish and had negative effects on their actual life.
By law, they have the right to receive a sum of money as a compensation for the negative impact caused by the situation. This will also give them a sense of closure, as they will be recognized as innocent in regards to the false allegations made against them. It is important that they receive this compensation to regain their confidence and to show that they have been wronged. No reasonable person should doubt their innocence after receiving this monetary award.
The judge specified that the ruling did not include any form of punishment for Mr Fox, and that the damages were solely intended to compensate for the harm caused.
According to her, if Mr Fox were to repeat the accusations against Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, he could potentially face consequences for showing disrespect towards the legal system.
Mrs. Justice Collins Rice acknowledged testimonies from both parties stating that they perceived Mr. Fox's defamatory remarks in a way that specifically targetted their sexual orientation.
The judge also mentioned that Mr Fox attempted to shift the responsibility of his own difficulties onto Mr Blake and Mr Seymour by blaming and undermining them during the legal proceedings.
The speaker mentioned that if the individuals affected were not as composed, effective at expressing themselves, adaptable, and able to persevere, and if they did not have strong assistance from both public and private entities, the harm caused to them could have been significantly greater. This would have had a detrimental impact on their lives and futures.
Mr Fox, aged 45, made an attempt to become the mayor of London last year, but was unsuccessful. Later, he became a host for a weekly show on GB News. Unfortunately, he got dismissed in October last year after making some inappropriate comments about a female journalist on air.
He gained recognition for his acting skills by starring in the popular TV drama Lewis, broadcasted on ITV. He belongs to the famous Fox acting clan that comprises Emilia and Freddie (cousins), Jack (brother), James (father), and Robin (grandfather). He and his former wife Billie Piper have two children together.
Before the ruling on Thursday, Mr Fox criticized the initial decision as a license for bullies and expressed strong disagreement with the outcome.
He promised to appeal through a post on X social media platform and commented that, "It's strange enough to be comical, as you receive the same amount of money whether you lose a limb at work or not."
