GB News has suspended Laurence Fox and Dan Wootton following an interview where they discussed the political journalist Ava Evans, with the reporter claiming that the discussion left her feeling "physically sick". Lewis actor Laurence discussed Ava with Dan Wootton, who was hosting the show, saying: "Show me a single self-respecting man who would like to climb into bed with that woman ever, who wasn't an incel." He added: "Who would want to s*** that". GB News has now confirmed that Dan has also been suspended, despite apologising for his role in the interview.
Ava replied to the situation following the show, tweeting: "Laurence Fox just did a whole speech on GB News on why men apparently won’t s*** me? I feel physically sick." Her post was met with support, with one person writing: "They’ve done it. They’ve actually done it. GB News haven’t just crossed the line … they’ve flown past it and landed four studios away. Obviously nothing will actually be done, because that’s where we are now with this shower. A letter from Ofcom coming up. They’re bricking it."
Labour MP Stella Creasy writing: "This clearly breaches @Ofcom guidelines on your right to privacy and unfair treatment - you shouldn’t have to put up with this and it’s their job to make sure GB news are held accountable for it. If they don’t act let us know and we will follow up."
Ofcom has confirmed that they have received complaints on Twitter, writing: "We can confirm we've received a number of complaints about comments made by Laurence Fox on GB News last night. We are assessing these complaints against our broadcast rules and will publish the outcome as quickly as possible."
A spokesperson for GB News told the BBC: "GB News has formally suspended Laurence Fox while we continue our investigation into comments he made on the channel last night. Mr Fox's suspension is effective immediately and he has been taken off air. We will be apologising formally to Ms Evans today."
Dan has apologised for the situation in a post, writing: "I want to reiterate my regret over last night’s exchange with Laurence on GB News. Having looked at the footage, I can see how inappropriate my reaction to his totally unacceptable remarks appears to be and want to be clear that I was in no way amused by the comments. I reacted as I did out of shock and surprise in an off guard moment while working out how to respond as he continued to speak by searching for tweets @AvaSantina had sent earlier in the day while having them read out in my ear at the same time.
"However, I should have intervened immediately to challenge offensive and misogynistic remarks. I apologise unreservedly for what was a very unfortunate lapse in judgement on my part under the intense pressure of a bizarre exchange. I know I should have done better. I'm devastated that I let down the team and our supportive GBN family. We seek to tackle the issue and not the person, which I intend to stress again on air tonight."
Laurence then retweeted Dan's statement alongside a screenshot of a message exchange, allegedly between himself and Dan, with the caption "Honesty is the best policy." The message from Laurence read: "Making you giggle is my weekly joy," to which the other person replied with laughing crying emojis, adding: "You can imagine them freaking out in the gallery!!!!"