Laurence Fox has been directed to pay £90,000 in damages to each of two individuals he labeled as “paedophiles.”
The actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox lost a High Court libel case to former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal.
The derogatory remarks were made on X, previously known as Twitter, during a discussion about Sainsbury’s celebration of Black History Month.
Mrs. Justice Collins Rice described the comments as “gross, groundless and indefensible.”
Following the verdict, Mr. Fox announced his intention to appeal.
The founder of the Reclaim Party, who had previously stated he would boycott Sainsbury’s, also counter-sued the pair for tweets that accused him of racism and attempted to sue broadcaster Nicola Thorp for the same allegation.
In January, the court ruled in favor of Mr. Blake and former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Crystal, whose real name is Colin Seymour, while dismissing Mr. Fox’s counter-claims.
The judge did not make a ruling on whether describing Mr Fox as “a racist” was “substantially true”, after finding the three tweets in his counter-claim were unlikely to cause serious harm to his reputation.
On Thursday, Mrs Justice Collins Rice said in her written ruling: “By calling Mr Blake and Mr Seymour paedophiles, Mr Fox subjected them to a wholly undeserved public ordeal.
“It was a gross, groundless and indefensible libel, with distressing and harmful real-world consequences for them.
“They are entitled by law to an award of money, to compensate them for those damaging effects, and to ensure that they can put this matter behind them, vindicated and confident that no-one can sensibly doubt their blamelessness of that disgusting slur and that they were seriously wronged by it.”
The judge clarified that the judgment did not serve as a form of punishment for Mr. Fox, as the damages awarded were solely compensatory in nature.
She cautioned that Mr. Fox could face contempt of court charges if he were to repeat the allegations against Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour.
Mrs. Justice Collins Rice acknowledged the testimonies from both individuals, noting that they had perceived Mr. Fox’s libel as particularly homophobic.
The judge added that Mr Fox had tried to “attach blame and discredit” Mr Blake and Mr Seymour during the litigation, and hold them responsible “for a range of his own life’s adversities”.
She said the damages could have been a “multiple” higher had his victims not been “self-possessed, articulate, resourceful and resilient”, and had “powerful support publicly and privately” to avoid their lives and prospects being “ruined” by the ordeal.
Mr. Fox, aged 45, unsuccessfully ran for London mayor in 2021 and later hosted a weekly show on GB News before being dismissed in October of the previous year due to comments he made on air about a female journalist.
He initially gained fame as an actor in the ITV series “Lewis” and is part of the prominent Fox acting family, which includes cousins Emilia and Freddie, his brother Jack, his father James, and his grandfather Robin. He has two children with his former wife, Billie Piper.
Before Thursday’s ruling, Mr. Fox criticized the original judgment as a “bullies charter” and stated that he “profoundly” disagreed with the outcome.
He vowed to appeal in a post on X and said: “You get the same wonga if you lose a leg at work. So surreal it’s almost funny.”