THE journalist who was the subject of a misogynistic tirade from Laurence Fox on GB News has condemned a Tory MP for failing to denounce Fox's comments before appearing on the channel.
Ava Evans criticised Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson for the way he publicised an interview with Home Secretary Suella Braverman on GB News yet has failed to comment on Fox’s insults about her.
The actor-turned-politician Fox has been suspended by the channel after he made a series of comments about the political correspondent for Politics JOE on Tuesday, including asking “who would want to shag that?”.
Yet despite widespread condemnation from politicians - including many in the Conservative Party - Anderson has ignored the controversy surrounding the channel on which he is a presenter.
“This is an elected representative and he hasn’t said anything publicly, or to me, and I know him,” she said.
"I have worked with him. I felt it showed contempt, really. By not saying anything, does he agree that it was OK to sexualise me?
“What am I supposed to think when I meet him in the office, or the parliamentary bar? And this isn’t about me. It’s about every woman working in the lobby.”
The host of the programme which platformed Fox's comments about Evans - Dan Wootton - has also been suspended by GB News.
Another presenter, Calvin Robinson, was suspended after he expressed solidarity with Wootton online.
Fox has since apologised for his "demeaning" comments. However, Evans said the reality of being discussed in such a manner on national television was "unforgivable".
She said: “It would have been horrible for a woman to hear she was being discussed in those terms in the pub.
“I’m not naive. I know that men talk like that about women. But this was on national TV. It was demeaning. It was dehumanising.
“As if it was an option for him to have sex with me. As if men get to look at you and decide if they want to… Unforgivable.”
She said the worst part of the experience had been explaining it to her father.
“My dad was just confused. He said: ‘But why would he say this? Have you dated him?’ He just didn’t get it,” she said.
“My parents didn’t go to university. They have ordinary jobs and have always been so proud of what I do and have achieved.
“Why should my choice of career — political reporting — mean I have to contend with this?”
A former producer for LBC radio, she said she would have acted to stop the comments if she had been working Tuesday’s Dan Wootton Tonight show.
“If I had been the producer on that show and the presenter wasn’t listening to commands to shut it down, I would have taken that show off the air, no question. It should never have been allowed to go as far as it did.”
The journalist said she fears for her safety after the messages and threats she has received in the wake of the show's broadcast.
