Laurence Fox has abandoned his libel case after being called a "racist" on social media.
The former GB News host, 45, says he won't be taking any further action against Mukhtar Ali Yassin, who "defamed" the actor-turned politician on social media, according to Fox.
Ben Gallop, representing the father-of-two, told a court in January that Mr Yassin had made “seriously defamatory allegations of racism against my client that are bare comments”. However, Fox has now said he is dropping the case because he doesn't want any more "pain and suffering".
Taking to X in a sombre video, explaining his decision to drop the case, he said: "I'm not keen on another three years of pain and stress that comes with these very high profile legal cases. So this is just to say I'm going to discontinue Mukhtar. It's not because I don't think what he said wasn't defamatory, it's because I don't want to sit through three and half years of this."
However, after listening to the video, Mr Yassin replied: "What @LozzaFox has just claimed is false and defamatory. He has not just "discontinued" his case against me. He has agreed to it being dismissed. He also agreed to pay thousands in legal costs to drop his claim. He has lawyers he knows what "dismissal" means. Fox lost." The Mirror has contacted Fox's reps for comment.
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Laurence Fox has decided to drop his libel case against Mukhtar Ali YassinFox, who was married to Billie Piper, recently lost a High Court libel case after being sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal (Colin Seymour) following a spat on X in which he referred to the pair as “paedophiles”. The exchange, which happened in October 2020, started after Blake and Seymour had accused Fox of being racist following comments he had made about a decision by Sainsbury’s to provide a safe space for black employees during Black History month.
Seymour and Blake lodged a claim for defamation in April 2021 in the High Court, while Fox filed a countersuit over the accusations of racism. On 29 January 2024, Justice Collins Rice handed down her judgment, ruling in favour of the claimants. In the same judgement, she dismissed counter-claims brought by Fox against Mr Blake, Crystal, and broadcaster Nicola Thorp, after they branded him a “a racist”. Fox, who founded the Reclaim Party, told his followers today he plans to appeal the decision.
The actor was also dealt a blow today over his "misogynistic" comments on GB News broke broadcasting rules. The media watchdog Ofcom said the political-activist's remarks about political journalist Ava Evans on Dan Wootton's show on 26 September, in which he asked "who would want to s**g that?", prompted nearly 8,867 complaints.
Neither Fox nor Wootton apologised while on air, but both subsequently said 'sorry', with Fox saying his comments were "demeaning" and "not representative of who I am".
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