Laurence Fox’s comments about female journalist Ava Evans on GB News last year broke rules on causing offence, the broadcasting regulator has ruled.
During the episode, Mr. Fox had asked, “Who would want to shag that?” in reference to Ms. Evans. The episode prompted 8,867 complaints, with viewers saying the actor-turned-politician’s remarks were misogynistic, offensive, and sexist.
Ofcom launched an investigation to determine whether the programme complied with the Broadcasting Code, finding the comments were “degrading and demeaning both to Ms Evans and women generally and were clearly and unambiguously misogynistic.”
The watchdog said that the remarks constituted a “highly personal attack” on Ms. Evans and were “potentially highly offensive to viewers.”
“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,” the broadcasting regulator said.
“Taking into particular account that Mr Fox’s misogynistic comments were directed at an individual, went largely unchallenged by the presenter, and the absence of any apology in the programme itself, we do not consider that the significant potential for offence was justified by the context in this case. We have therefore found the programme in breach of Rule 2.3 [of the Broadcaster’s Code],” Ofcom ruled.
Broadcasters are free to include potentially offensive material in their programmes under Ofcom rules and in line with the legal right to freedom of expression. But the regular says “such content must be justified and put into sufficient context to ensure audiences are protected.”
Fox Apologised to Evans
The Reclaim Party leader had said he made the remarks because he was angry with the journalist over comments she made in a BBC debate on the topic of male suicide, alleging Ms. Evans had a “dislike of men in general.”Sharing a post to social media platform X in response to the ruling, Mr. Fox said: “I’m not overly bothered about this anymore.
“I could have expressed myself better, that’s life and I’ve said my bit.”
Two days after the episode aired, Mr. Fox apologised for his comments to Ms. Evans, saying in a video posted to X, “I’m sorry for demeaning you in that way.”
Mr. Fox said in the video post: “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.”
GB News
Ofcom also criticised host Dan Wootton’s reaction to the September 2023 remarks, saying the “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.”The regulator also ruled that because no apology was made after the interview with Mr. Fox in the remainder of the two-hour programme, “we considered this indicated that GB News’ editorial control of this live programme had been inadequate.”
The broadcasting watchdog also said that in light of the case, it has “significant concerns” about GB News’s editorial control of its live output.
“We are requiring GB News to provide further detailed information about its compliance practices in this area for our consideration, and requesting it attends a meeting at our offices to discuss this,” Ofcom concluded.
