British actor turned right wing aspiring politician Laurence Fox has been ordered by a London court to pay £180,000 to two people he labeled as ‘pedophiles’ on social media.
Fox lost a High Court battle back in January over comments he’d made about Simon Blake, a former trustee of the LGBTIQA+ focused charity Stonewall, and Colin Seymour, who is better known as drag artist Crystal.
The two men had taken Fox to court over comments he’s made on the social media platform X. Dame Rowena Collins Rice, the Honourable Mrs Justice Collins Rice, ruled that Fox had defamed both men.
The case was sparked by an online discussion about British supermarket chain Sainsburys offering a safe space for Black employees during Black History Month. Fox, the founder of the right wing Reclaim Party took to social media to call for a boycott of the supermarket.
This prompted Collins, Seymour and former Coronation Street actor Nicola Thorp to respond with an accusation that Fox was a racist. He then described the two men as pedophiles.
They sued him for defamation, and he counter sued over the comments describing him as being racist. He said since they’d made their comment his offers of work had significantly reduced.
Fox’s claim was dismissed, but the claim against him was upheld. On Thursday the parties returned to court to hear what damages Justice Collins Rice would award. She ordered Fox to pay each £90,000 ($AUD 172,000).
Fox has criticised the judgement, saying it needs to be overturned and accusing the judge in the case of “misconduct”.
On his X account Fox highlighted a section of the judgement against him and said Justice Rice Collins had failed to grasp the basic facts of the case. In his post he refers to her as “Lady injustice Rice Collins”.
Fox is best known for his long running role in the British TV series Lewis. He played the role of Detective James Hathaway from 2006 until 2015, but he’s subsequently launched a career as a right-wing political commentator and become regular candidate at elections.
Laurence Fox was previously married to singer and actor Billie Piper. In 2016 Laurence Fox launched a music career, but he later turned to politics launching the right-wing Reclaim party.
He is part of the Fox acting dynasty, his father James Fox has enjoyed a long career, as has his uncle Edward Fox. His cousin Emilia Fox stars in the television series Silent Witness, while her younger brother Freddie Fox has appeared in many series including Cucumber, Banana, and The Great.
Last year British police looked into whether Fox had committed any crime when he made a social media video which saw him burning pride flags, ultimately deciding there was nothing he could be charged with.
Fox said his protest was not about gay, lesbian or bisexual people, but specifically directed at representation of people who are transgender.
Last September he was suspended and subsequently sacked from his on-air role at GB News after he delivered a tirade against political correspondent Ava Evans which was deemed to be misogynistic.
