{"id":99425,"date":"2023-09-28T20:28:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T20:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/?p=99425"},"modified":"2023-09-28T20:28:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T20:28:10","slug":"laurence-fox-apologies-for-demeaning-comments-made-about-ava-evans-on-gb-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/tv-movies\/laurence-fox-apologies-for-demeaning-comments-made-about-ava-evans-on-gb-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurence Fox apologies for \u2018demeaning\u2019 comments made about Ava Evans on GB News"},"content":{"rendered":"
Laurence Fox has apologised for his comments made on GB News about journalist Ava Evans, saying \u201cI\u2019m sorry for demeaning you in that way\u201d.<\/p>\n
Actor-turned-politician Fox made a series of remarks about political correspondent Ms Evans, which included asking \u201cwho would want to shag that?\u201d during a discussion on Dan Wootton Tonight on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Fox said he was angry with Ms Evans over comments she made on a BBC debate around male suicide and alleged she had a \u201cdislike of men in general\u201d, but apologised for \u201cdemeaning her\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Addressing the situation in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: \u201cIf I was going to be sensible and I could replay it, I would say: \u2018Any 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\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I did say was, you know, \u2018I wouldn\u2019t shag that\u2019, and all that sort of stuff, which is not right. It\u2019s demeaning to her, to Ava, so I\u2019m sorry for demeaning you in that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever angry I am with you still for doing that, and it demeans me because it\u2019s not representative of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said he expected to be sacked by GB News on Friday over the incident, adding: \u201cI know I\u2019m going to get sacked tomorrow. I\u2019m saying this stuff to clear my own conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fox also said he felt Wootton had thrown him \u201cunder the bus\u201d with his follow-up statement after the show where he apologised \u201cunreservedly\u201d for a \u201cvery unfortunate lapse in judgment\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a tweet, Wootton wrote: \u201cHaving 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Evans previously said she had received an apology from GB News.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, she told Good Morning Britain that her direct messages on social media are full of \u201castounding\u201d threats.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI\u2019m deeply embarrassed by all of it and I\u2019m appreciative for everyone who has very kindly stood up for me, but it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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 \u201capplying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context\u201d.<\/p>\n
Wootton\u2019s MailOnline column was also terminated amid the furore of the comments made on his GB News show.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, a spokesperson from the publication\u2019s parent company, DMG Media, said: \u201cFollowing events this week, DMG Media can confirm that Dan Wootton\u2019s freelance column with MailOnline, which had already been paused, has now been terminated, along with his contract.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the claims, Wootton said he had made \u201cerrors of judgment\u201d in the past but branded the \u201ccriminal allegations\u201d as \u201csimply untrue\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n