Laurence Fox's 'misogynistic' comments about journalist on GB News broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom says
The media watchdog said the actor-turned-political-activist's remarks about political journalist Ava Evans on Dan Wootton's show on 26 September prompted nearly 9,000 complaints.
Monday 4 March 2024 13:36, UK
Laurence Fox's "misogynistic" comments on GB News broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom has ruled.
The media watchdog said the actor-turned-political-activist's remarks about political journalist Ava Evans on show on 26 September, in which he asked "who would want to shag that?", prompted nearly 8,867 complaints.
"We found that Mr Fox's comments constituted a highly personal attack on Ms Evans and were potentially highly offensive to viewers," Ofcom said.
"They reduced her contribution to a broadcast discussion on mental health - in her professional capacity as a political journalist - to a judgment on whether she, or women like her who publicly expressed their political opinions, were sexually desirable to men."
It added his remarks "were degrading and demeaning both to Ms Evans and women generally and were clearly and unambiguously misogynistic".
The watchdog also found Wootton's reaction and "limited challenge" in response "did not mitigate the potential for offence".
"Rather, they exacerbated it by contributing to the narrative in which a woman's value was judged by her physical appearance."
Read more:
Reaction and what Fox said - in full
Who is Laurence Fox?
Remarks 'only serve to stifle meaningful debate'
Neither Fox nor Wootton apologised while on air, but both subsequently apologised, with his comments were "demeaning" and "not representative of who I am".
Both were suspended by the channel after the broadcast and Fox was later sacked.
Responding to the ruling Ms Evans said she was "pleased" Ofcom had recognised the remarks "were sexist".
She said: "My journalism is open to criticism, and it's important that takes place in a free and fair society, but remarks of this nature only serve to stifle meaningful debate and dissuade young women from choosing journalism as a career. That is to all of our detriment.
"I am glad GB News has taken steps to prevent this from happening again. But Ofcom needs to be able to impose meaningful sanction for conduct of this kind, not just slap its perpetrators on the wrist, should they be unwilling to change their behaviour."
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'Significant concerns about GB News' editorial control'
Ofcom also said it has "significant concerns about GB News' editorial control of its live output" and said it was requiring the channel to "provide further detailed information about its compliance practices in this area".
The media watchdog also announced it is launching a further investigation into Nigel Farage's programme on the channel on 17 January.
A spokesperson said: "We are investigating whether this programme broke our rules requiring news and current affairs to be presented with due impartiality, and preventing politicians from acting as news presenters."