Laurence Fox And Defamation

Perhaps it’s knowing that his fifteen minutes may soon be up that has driven minor thesp Laurence Fox to the kind of attention seeking behaviour that may generate the kind of attention that lands him with a series of defamation actions in very short order, with one of the potential litigants a Very Big Company with Their Own Lawyers.

Fox’s latest meltdown, self-own, self-burn and general wipeout came after Sainsbury’s declared their support for Black History Month, signing off with the assertion “We proudly represent and serve our diverse society and anyone who does not want to shop with an inclusive retailer is welcome to shop elsewhere”. Fox swallowed the bait whole.

“Dear [Sainsbury’s] I won’t be shopping in your supermarket ever again whilst you promote racial segregation and discrimination. I sincerely hope others join me”. One, Sainsbury’s is not promoting segregation and discrimination - it’s promoting diversity and inclusion. And Two, that claim is not only untrue, but potentially actionably so.

Worse, when he was inevitably called out for racism, Lozza began lashing out in a fashion that could generate at least three more lawsuits. After Simon Blake passed adverse comment on his actions, he snapped back “Pretty rich coming from a paedophile”. A Tweeter backing Black Lives Matter called him a snowflake as well as a racist, which resulted in the response “Says the paedophile”. And he wasn’t finished.

After actress Nicola Thorp concluded that Fox was “unequivocally, publicly and undeniably a racist”, he lost it completely. "Any company giving future employment to Nicola Thorpe or providing her with a platform does so with the complete knowledge that she is unequivocally, publicly and undeniably a paedophile”. All defamatory. All screen shotted.

Just over half an hour later came a self-awareness failure as Lozza pontificated “Language is powerful. To accuse someone of racism without any evidence whatsoever to back up that accusation is a deep slander. It carries the same stigma and reputation destroying harm as accusing someone of paedophilia. Here endeth the lesson”.

The Secret Barrister responded “In law, falsely calling someone a paedophile is likely to amount to defamation, and can carry ruinous financial consequences. Here endeth the lesson”. Fox wasn’t having that. “Where does the law stand on falsely accusing someone of racism?” The next response should have been instructive.

Quoting Fox’s response to Sainsbury’s Black History Month, The Secret Barrister mused “Also potentially defamatory, yes. I for one would feel very nervous, for instance, about a tweet like this”. But the advice had come too late: Lozza was already being quoted by the Mail’s website, with quote marks round his claims of “segregation and discrimination”. Because the Mail got its copy legalled. So it doesn’t get sued over the story.

Such a pity that some of that five million quid he raised for his new political party might have to go on legal bills and damages. Maybe that will cause him to stop and think.

Then he can go and seek help. Because right now, he sounds seriously unwell.

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