GB News is approaching the advanced stages of a media meltdown. Controversial commentator Laurence Fox and tabloid hack-turned-right-wing rabble rouser Dan Wootton have been suspended by the channel for their misogynistic discussion about PoliticsJOE journalist Ava Evans.
Speaking on Tuesday evening to a grinning Dan Wootton, Fox, the former actor and leader of the fringe Reclaim party, said: “Who’d want to s**g that?”
“Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever, ever,” he added.
Fox was responding to Ava Evans’s claim that creating a post of minister for men would be playing into the damaging rhetoric of the culture wars.
But it didn’t end there. GB News and Wootton both apologised for Fox’s comments and their role in platforming him. Fox went on the offensive and said he would not be apologising for his exercising his right to free speech. Fox then threw his host under the bus and shared Wootton’s apology with an accompanying picture of a private chat between the two.
In the private conversation post-broadcast, Wootton comes across as unrepentant as you’d expect. Here’s the tête-à-tête:
Fox: “Making you giggle is my weekly joy.”
Wootton: “You can imagine them freaking out in the gallery!!!!!”
Fox: “So much fun. Xx”
In response to Fox’s comments, Ava Evans said: “This is actually nothing to do with me. This is a producer, presenter problem. This is a network problem… I am just a vehicle for content. That’s the bit that makes me feel most sick.”
Just last week, Ofcom ruled for the third time that GB News had breached impartiality rules in its broadcasting. This sorry affair is sure to result in more complaints.
Indeed, some have viewed it as a watershed moment for the channel. Where does it go from here? Many agree there should be a space in the news media for heterodox views, but it has to be produced with the rigour and professionalism that stops it from descending into the crankery that GB News has now become infamous for.
In any case, keep a close eye on Fox’s Twitter for the ensuing manic episodes in what will be good value entertainment for a Wednesday night – he’s already accused his old pal JuliaHartley-Brewer of virtue signalling and called fellow GB News presenter Mark Dolan a “cos play freedom fighter”.
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