Laurence Fox - Maybe More Lawsuits

And so it came to pass that former minor thesp, failed chanteur and never-even-started politician Laurence Fox was gripped by very temporary candour on the subject of legal costs. He was, he confessed to anyone not yet asleep, in it for two million. That’s a 2 with six zeros and no decimal points.

Dear Larry. Dear Dear Larry. Dear Smearing Larry

So what did he then do? What would a suitably contrite individual have done? What would a rational and sensible person have done? What would Nietzsche have done? Sadly, Dear Dear Larry does not operate at that intellectual level, instead opening mouth and inserting foot in no style at all, premiering a new film, Carry On Defaming. He demonstrated sufficient idiocy for Bill and Ben to have called him a Complob Floggin’ Wonker.

His first target was Nicola Thorp, who had declared “We won. On all counts”. Fox snapped “I’m not sure you did. Anyone who hires [Nicola Thorp] does so in the knowledge that she is unequivocally, unashamedly and publicly a racist. Sue me”. He chose his words … poorly. It was, as Sir Humphrey might have put it, a brave action. Maybe it was a little too brave.

Some of the responses should have let him know he loused up: “responding to loosing a defamation case by defaming the same person, great work Einstein” was one. A more contemporary reply was “I see you’re pursuing the winning E Jean Caroll v Trump strategy. Keep going mate”. Plus a statement of the bleeding obvious: “It’s as if you’ve got a fetish for getting sued”.

And it got worse: as the Tweeter known as GB News Spin Room has told, “Fox’s statement outside The High Court revealed he’s ‘two million bloody quid in’ and intends to appeal the decision”. Like he has a chance of success. Not when that Tweet added “He proceeded to call Gary Lineker a ‘massive racist’ adding ‘good luck Gary, you’re not suing me’”. Oh dear!

Unlike Fox, Lineker has both current career and significant reputation, which could suffer serious damage were he not to take action, even if it went no further than Fox being prevailed upon to say sorry, promise not to repeat the statement, and make a donation to charity by way of amends. And do it now.

Fox smeared WHO?

What Fox seems not to understand is that his own past behaviour sets him apart from those he slags off, as the Guardian report on his loss reveals. During the trial, “Fox suggested there were contexts in which the phrase ‘I hate black people’ was not racist. He said: ‘If a man is just released from a Ugandan jail where he’s been gang-raped by several men and he walks out and he goes: “I hate black people”, it’s a sort of understandable response.’”

Could it get worse? Don’t ask. “Asked whether it was racist to say ‘Black people in the UK should go home’, Fox replied: ‘Depends on what context.’ During the trial, Fox dismissed the Black Lives Matter movement as ‘grift’ and ‘a Ponzi scheme’. He added: ‘We’re all equal in the eyes of god, so all lives matter.’ Fox also insisted that he had been subjected to anti-white racism”.

Ah, the old phoney Anti White Racism ploy. Foot in mouth any more than that? “He also described the idea of white privilege as ‘disgusting racism’ and added: ‘I choose to understand white privilege as a racist insult because it’s about the colour of your skin, and it’s not about the content of your character.’” No, it’s about a fact. Called White Privilege. And there was more.

“Fox also told the court that footballers who took the knee were cowards, and loudly chanted a New Zealand haka to try to illustrate his point. He told the court: ‘The New Zealanders going to a rugby game going, “Whakaka tu ka pu pu", you know, it’s to intimidate your rival because you’re about to beat your rival. I think kneeling before your rival makes you look like a bit of a coward who’s going to lose the game.’” Thus did he not dispel the racism claim.

As to “career ending”, Matthew Black had this caution. “Laurence Fox & his opinions first surfaced on #bbcqt in Jan 2020. He'd made just two films in the previous decade. Aside from 'Lewis' which ended in 2015, he had appeared on TV just 5 times in the previous decade! He'd barely worked in years. What acting ‘career’ has he lost?” But he could lose even more money.

Laurence Fox may not yet be finished. But you can see it from there.

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