29 January 2024 , 15:14
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Actor-turned-wannabe-politician Laurence Fox libelled two men when he referred to them as “paedophiles” on social media, a High Court judge has ruled.
The divorced dad-of-two, 45, was sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over a row on Twitter, now known as X, in October 2020.
Fox called Mr Blake and the former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, whose real name is Colin Seymour, “paedophiles” in an exchange about a decision by Sainsbury’s to celebrate Black History Month. The actor – who founded the Reclaim Party – counter-sued the pair and actress Nicola Thorp over tweets accusing him of racism. Fox said at the time he would boycott Sainsbury’s, accusing it of promoting “racial segregation and discrimination”.
Writing on Twitter (X) just after 3pm, after learning of the judge's ruling, Fox told his followers: "I will now make my statement at 3:30 outside the Royal Courts of Justice, because I’ve read the judgement and absorbed it."
Outside the High Court, Mr Fox vowed to appeal the ruling and suggested £2 million had been spent on the legal battle. "Today a judge in the High Court has ruled I didn't suffer any serious harm through the allegation of racism made against me, which is strange because at the same time she also declined to define the meaning of the word racist."
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Of the appeal, he said: "That's another million quid we are going to have to spend to find out the meaning of a word every single person in this country knows."
In her ruling, High Court judge Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, dismissing Mr Fox’s counter-claims and saying: "Mr Fox’s labelling of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour as paedophiles was, on the evidence, probabilities and facts of this case, seriously harmful, defamatory and baseless.
“The law affords few defences to defamation of this sort. Mr Fox did not attempt to show these allegations were true, and he was not able to bring himself on the facts within the terms of any other defence recognised in law.”
Laurence Fox arriving at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London, for his libel trial in November (2023 PA Media, All Rights Reserved)
The High Court judge has ruled in favour of Drag Race UK star Crystal and Simon Blake (BBC/ Leigh Keily / Matt Burlem)Following the ruling, Drag Race star Crystal shared a lengthy statement on X. "We won. The judgement in our defamation case against Laurence Fox was handed down today, and I am incredibly pleased to say that we won on all counts. The judge said that Mr fox defamed me (and Simon Blake) when he called us peadophiles, with a likelihood of causing serious reputational harm," the statement read.
"Furthermore, our tweets calling him a racist were found to be unlikely to cause any serious harm and therefore he was not defamed by us. I am incredibly relieved to have this outcome - a huge weight I've been carrying for over three years has just been lifted. I want to say again that I took no joy in bringing this case, nor did I do so lightly. Mr Fox could have made this go away very early on with a meaningful apology and statement. Instead, and despite his protestations about the importance of 'free speech', he sued me for holding the opinion that he was racist.
"Even last night, Mr Fox was tweeting about the importance of free speech, ironically for Mr Fox, this victory IS a victory of free speech. The freedom to express an opinion and not get sued for doing so. Free speech does not cover factual allegations of criminality such as paedophilia. I've said it before but paedophilia is one of the oldest and most damaging tropes. Since Mr Fox used that word about me, I have been re-labelled as such dozens of times, been physically threatened, and been afraid for my safety in public.
"The judgement unequivocally that his tweet was defamatory and that it caused me harm. I am very happy to have this finalised and I hope it will make some difference in the ongoing demonstration of queer people as 'groomers' or 'dangerous'. This is a lesson: we will not take it."
During a trial in London in November, Mr Fox was described was an alleged “intelligent racist with an agenda”. Lorna Skinner KC, representing Mr Blake, Mr Seymour and Ms Thorp, said the trio “honestly believed, and continue honestly to believe, that Mr Fox is a racist”.
She said the actor “has made a number of highly controversial statements about race”, adding: “If and to the extent that Mr Fox has been harmed in his reputation, it is his own conduct and not the claimants’ comments on it that caused that harm.” The barrister highlighted several of Mr Fox’s social media posts, including a June 2022 tweet of four pride flags arranged in the shape of a swastika.
In his written evidence for the case, Mr Seymour, a Canadian artist, said he had faced “overwhelming and distressing” abuse after Mr Fox’s tweet, adding that he felt less safe as a drag performer. Mr Blake, now chief executive of Mental Health First Aid England, said the incorrect suggestion that gay men were paedophiles was “a trope as old as the hills”.
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Broadcaster Nicola Thorp claimed that Mr Fox had “outed himself as a racist” with a tweet calling for a boycott of the supermarket. She said that any reputational harm Mr Fox suffered “was because of what he did, not because of what I said”.
Patrick Green KC, representing Mr Fox, told the court neither Mr Blake nor Mr Seymour “has suffered any actual, real-world consequences” due to the actor’s tweets. The barrister said the posts did not cause people to think worse of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, and that people did not believe they were paedophiles.
Instead, Mr Green said readers would have understood that Mr Fox’s posts were a “retort to an allegation of racism” rather than a factual allegation. Mr Fox told the court he was “horrified” when he saw he had been called a racist, which he later described as “a career-ending word and a reputation-destroying allegation”.
He said his life was “destroyed” by “hurtful” racism allegations and he was left unable to get a mortgage. The actor said he faced a “significant decline” in the number and quality of roles he was offered after he was accused of being a racist in the social media row.