Laurence Fox claims acting career is ‘over’ in defence of ‘paedophile’ tweets

Laurence Fox has lamented his career in acting ‘is likely over’ after labelling a charity boss, an actress, and a star of Ru Paul’s Race ‘paedophiles’.

Fox has been sued for defamation by drag queen Crystal, Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp, and charity boss Simon Blake over comments he made following a row over his boycott of Sainsbury’s due to the supermarket’s support of Black History Month.

His stance saw him labelled by the three as ‘racist’, which he denied.

In defence documents submitted to the High Court this week, and obtained by Pink News, Fox insisted the paedophile claim was not defamatory and has instead launched a counter-suit in regards to the ‘racism’ claim against him.

Fox alleges readers of the now-deleted tweet would have understood he wasn’t using the slur literally, but instead as a ‘rhetorical point’ to give the defendants a ‘taste of their own medicine’.

According to the actor and Reclaim Party leader, the comment did not cause ‘serious harm’ to Crystal, Blake, or Thorp’s reputations.

But Fox claims he did suffer serious harm – a key test in defamation law – because he was dropped by his agent and has since ‘become seen as a racist’.

In the suit, Fox, who recently ran for Mayor of London, claimed he ‘no longer calls himself an actor’ following the row.

It read: ‘The Defendant’s financial prospects of well-remunerated acting work have been very greatly diminished by no longer enjoying representation from a first-class agency, such that he can no longer rely on this source of income.

‘For this reason, the Defendant considers that his acting career is likely over and no longer calls himself an actor.’

The suit also stated Fox feared for his safety after faeces was allegedly put through his door twice.

It read: ‘It is to be inferred that this was an act of support for the Claimants and a show of disgust against the Defendant for his alleged racism.

‘He lives in fear of being attacked when he leaves the house.’

Blake and Crystal last year announced their intention to sue Fox, and their lawsuit for defamation was filed on April 1 in the High Court.

Blake, Thorp and Crystal, under their birth name Colin Seymour, are listed as the claimants, represented by Patron Law.

In October 2020, Fox hit out at Sainsbury’s for creating a safe space for its Black staff, after the supermarket chain said in a statement: ‘We are proud to celebrate Black History Month together with our Black colleagues, customers and communities and we will not tolerate racism.

‘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.’

The Lewis star tweeted: ‘Dear @sainsburys I won’t be shopping in your supermarket ever again whilst you promote racial segregation and discrimination.’

Blake tweeted: ‘What a mess. What a racist t**t’, with Fox replying: ‘Pretty rich coming from a paedophile.’

Fox also called Crystal a ‘paedophile’ after the drag queen tweeted: ‘Imagine being this proud of being a racist! So cringe. Total snowflake behaviour.’

Blake, CEO of Mental Health First Aid England and deputy chair of Stonewell, said that he ‘regretted the unnecessary language’ he used in his tweet but said: ‘In response, Mr Fox seriously defamed me and I have instructed Mark Lewis from Patron Law to sue for defamation.’

Canadian performer Crystal, who appeared on season one of Drag Race UK and lives in London, tweeted: ‘I will not stand for racism when I see it, and I will not stand for homophobic defamation when it is directed at me. An accusation of paedophilia is one of the oldest homophobic tropes, and it was very shocking to have that levelled at me, not just by Mr Fox, but also his many followers who believed him.

‘I may have had to endure homophobic bullying as a child, but I will not tolerate it as an adult. Thank you so much to everyone who has voiced their support.’

Fox deleted the offending tweets, saying: ‘I have deleted the tweets posted yesterday, in response to being repeatedly, continuously and falsely smeared as a racist.’

Speaking about his tweets on an episode of Jeremy Vine, he said: ‘It was in response, possibly, to 10 months now of being called a racist by people on Twitter, which I think is a career-ending slur, actually, and I find very hurtful.

‘If the point is that words mean nothing, seeing as it’s a totally baseless allegation and is entirely in opposition to what my feelings are, I thought, you know what, if words meaning nothing nowadays, I can call you anything I want in return.

‘Was it my finest hour? No.’

When Vine said that you cannot call people paedophiles if they are not, Fox responded: ‘You can’t really call people racists if they’re not.

‘I love our language. What I really should have done was just sue them.’

Metro.co.uk contacted reps of Fox for comment.

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