Ava Evans slams Laurence Fox for ‘unforgivable’ GB News rant
Laurence Fox was suspended from GB News for his sexist rant. (Instagram/avasantina_/Getty)
Political journalist Ava Evans has described the “dehumanising” on-air rant against her by Laurence Fox as “unforgivable.”
Broadcast channel GB News announced it had suspended the Reclaim Party founder for a misogynistic rant in which he said “no self-respecting man” would want to have sex with Evans.
Presenter and former editor of The Sun, Dan Wootton, was also suspended following Fox’s comments on his show, Dan Wootton Tonight.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Evans said she had first heard the comments while sitting alone in her London flat, saying she found them “demeaning.”
“It would have been horrible for a woman to hear she was being discussed in those terms in the pub,” she said. “I’m not naive. I know that men talk like that about women.
“But this was on national TV… It was dehumanising.
“As if it was an option for him to have sex with me. As if men get to look at you and decide if they want to… Unforgivable.”
The PoliticsJOE reporter recalled the humiliation of having to explain the situation to her father, who she said “just didn’t get it.”
“My dad was just confused. He said, ‘But why would he say this? Have you dated him?’
“My parents didn’t go to university. They have ordinary jobs and have always been so proud of what I do and have achieved.
“Why should my choice of career – political reporting – mean I have to contend with this?”
Following the backlash, Wootton issued two separate apologies to Evans, saying he laughed at Fox’s comments out of “shock and surprise,” though leaked messages from Fox allegedly claimed the segment was pre-planned.
Wootton was then sacked as a columnist by MailOnline weeks after he was suspended over accusations he had used a pseudonym to send sexually explicit messages to former colleagues.
GB News is reportedly conducting an internal inquiry into the comments while broadcasting regulator Ofcom announced a formal investigation after the regulator received thousands of complaints relating to the rant.
While appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Evans criticised MPs who host GB News shows for not speaking out against the comments made by Fox.
“A lot of presenters and producers at the channel spoke publicly yesterday about how they don’t align themselves with those views, but I didn’t hear that from any of the members of Parliament that sit on that channel.
“If you’re not going to say anything and you’re going to continue broadcasting on it, it’s almost as if you’ve accepted it or, you know, you’re claiming to align with those views.
“You’re saying that, you know, it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to profess what Laurence Fox did that night.”
