Dan Wootton suspended from GB News after Laurence Fox comments

27 September, 2023

Dan Wootton

Dan Wootton has been suspended from GB News following comments made by Laurence Fox on his show.

On Tuesday’s episode of Dan Wootton Tonight, Fox made a series of comments about Joe’s political correspondent Ava Evans (also known as Ava Santina), where he said: “Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever.”

After GB News suspended Fox over the remarks earlier today (September 27), the channel announced Wootton has also been suspended pending further investigation.

“GB News has suspended Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox last night,” a statement from the channel read.

“This follows our decision earlier today to formally suspend Mr Fox. We are conducting a full investigation.”

After the segment aired, Wootton, who was seen laughing at his comments, apologised and described his reaction as a “lapse in judgement”.

“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,” Wootton wrote on X (fka Twitter).

He added: “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.”

During his appearance on the show, Fox made a series of comments about Joe’s political correspondent Ava Evans (also known as Ava Santina), where he said: “Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever.

“That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day… and she’s sat there and I’m going like, if I met you in a bar and that was like sentence three, [the] chances of me just walking away are just huge.”

“We need powerful strong, amazing women who make great points for themselves,” Fox said, adding: “Who’d want to shag that?”

His comments came after Evans made an appearance on Politics Live on Monday (September 25), where she discussed the call from a Conservative MP to appoint a dedicated minister for men.

“I think that it feeds into the culture war a little bit, this minister for men argument,” Evans said on the show. “In my mind, I think there should be a minister for mental health and it should be all-encompassing.”

She added: “I think a lot of ministers bandy this about to sort of, I’m sorry, to make an enemy out of women.”

After the debate aired, Evans later described her comments as “a little rash” in a post on X, adding that she was “actually very interested in a brief for a minister on young men’s mental health”.

After Wootton’s show aired on GB News, Fox said he stood by “every word” of his comments. “If you are expecting a grovelling apology, I suggest you don’t hold your breath,” he wrote on X. “I won’t ever apologise to the mob.”

Ofcom said it had “received a number of complaints” about Fox’s comments on the channel and is “assessing these complaints against our broadcast rules”.

The post Dan Wootton suspended from GB News after Laurence Fox comments appeared first on NME.