OFCOM has confirmed it has received a “number of complaints” about comments made by Laurence Fox on GB News.
The watchdog has said it will be “assessing these complaints against our broadcast rules and will publish the outcome as quickly as possible”.
It comes after Fox made a string of remarks about journalist Ava Evans during an appearance on Dan Wootton’s show on Tuesday evening.
GB News has condemned the comments as “totally unacceptable", confirmed it has launched an investigation, and suspended Fox as it is undertaken.
But responding to GB News's suspension, Fox shared screenshots which appeared to show messages he had sent the channel beforehand outlining what he planned to say.
He wrote: "Contributors do a pre interview before going on, so they knew exactly what I intended to say."
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During Tuesday night’s discussion on GB News, the strapline on the screen read: “Smirking Face of Disdain”, with the text under it reading: ‘Hard-left commentator slammed for shrugging off male suicide crisis’.
Fox, whose previous acting credits include Gosford Park and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, told Wootton: “We’re past the watershed so I can say this: Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman, ever, ever, who wasn’t an Incel?
“That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day after day … starting with the lie of the gender wage gap, and she’s sat there and I’m going, if I met you in a bar and that was like sentence three, chances of me just walking away are just huge.
“We need powerful strong amazing women who make great points for themselves, we don’t need these sort of feminist 4.0 … they’re pathetic and embarrassing. Who would want to shag that?”
Laughing, Wootton replied: “Well, look, she, I’m just going to provide a touch of balance from her because she did actually respond to this earlier today, saying that she regretted her comments but she didn’t apologise.”
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Wootton added: “And she’s a very beautiful woman, Laurence, very beautiful woman.”
The discussion came after Evans appeared on BBC’s Politics Live on Monday.
In a statement posted to X, GB News said: “Comments made tonight on GB News by Laurence Fox were totally unacceptable.
“What he said does not reflect our values and we apologise unreservedly for the comments and the offence they have caused.
“We have launched an investigation and will be apologising to the individual involved.”
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