Laurence Fox has apologised for his comments made on GB News about journalist Ava Evans, saying “I’m sorry for demeaning you in that way”.
Actor-turned-politician Fox made a series of remarks about political correspondent Ms Evans, which included asking “who would want to shag that?” during a discussion on Dan Wootton Tonight on Tuesday.
Both Fox and Wootton, who could be heard laughing during the segment, were suspended by GB News amid an internal investigation and a probe by regulator Ofcom, who received around 7,300 complaints about the episode.
Fox said he was angry with Ms Evans over comments she made on a BBC debate around male suicide and alleged she had a “dislike of men in general”, but apologised for “demeaning her”.
Addressing the situation in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: “If I was going to be sensible and I could replay it, I would say: ‘Any self-respecting man in 2023 would probably be well advised to avoid a woman who possessed that world view because she would probably cause him nothing but harm’.
“But what I did say was, you know, ‘I wouldn’t shag that’, and all that sort of stuff, which is not right. It’s demeaning to her, to Ava, so I’m sorry for demeaning you in that way.
“However angry I am with you still for doing that, and it demeans me because it’s not representative of who I am.”
He also said he expected to be sacked by GB News on Friday over the incident, adding: “I know I’m going to get sacked tomorrow. I’m saying this stuff to clear my own conscience.”
Addressing GB News’ role, Fox said: “GB News have opened themselves up for complete destruction, as far as I can tell, because they branded themselves as the home of free speech.
“Now, if you’re the home of free speech then what they could easily have done was say ‘Look what Laurence said was appalling, reprehensible but he’s got the right to say it, it’s is his opinion. Could he have expressed it better? Yes’.”
He added that he feels the channel is “actually the home of cancel culture, and they’re probably more at risk of cancel culture than any other channel”.
Fox also said he felt Wootton had thrown him “under the bus” with his follow-up statement after the show where he apologised “unreservedly” for a “very unfortunate lapse in judgment”.
In a tweet, Wootton wrote: “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.”
Ms Evans previously said she had received an apology from GB News.
On Thursday, she told Good Morning Britain that her direct messages on social media are full of “astounding” threats.
She added: “I’m deeply embarrassed by all of it and I’m appreciative for everyone who has very kindly stood up for me, but it’s sort of the other side of it, which is half of the comments are very lovely and supportive, and the other side are very threatening.”
Later in the day, media regulator Ofcom announced it was launching an official investigation into the episode under Rule 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code which states when “applying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context”.
Wootton’s MailOnline column was also terminated amid the furore of the comments made on his GB News show.
His regular column was originally paused in August while the publication investigated allegations that he used a pseudonym and offered colleagues money for sexual material.
On Thursday, a spokesperson from the publication’s parent company, DMG Media, said: “Following events this week, DMG Media can confirm that Dan Wootton’s freelance column with MailOnline, which had already been paused, has now been terminated, along with his contract.”
Following the claims, Wootton said he had made “errors of judgment” in the past but branded the “criminal allegations” as “simply untrue”.
