Laurence Fox libelled two men when he referred to them as ‘paedophiles’, High Court judge rules
Laurence Fox libelled two people when he referred to them as “paedophiles” on social media, a High Court judge has ruled.
The actor-turned-politician, 45, was sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over a row on X, formerly Twitter, in October 2020.
Mr Fox used the term against Mr Blake and the former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant – real name Colin Seymour – in an exchange about a decision by Sainsbury’s to celebrate Black History Month.
The Lewis star counter-sued the pair and former Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp over tweets which accused him of racism.
In a ruling on Monday, High Court judge Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour and dismissed Mr Fox’s arguments.
Simon Blake (left), Nicola Thorp and Colin Seymour, pictured in November last year. Pic: PA
She said: “Mr Fox’s labelling of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour as paedophiles was, on the evidence, probabilities and facts of this case, seriously harmful, defamatory and baseless.
“The law affords few defences to defamation of this sort.
“Mr Fox did not attempt to show these allegations were true, and he was not able to bring himself on the facts within the terms of any other defence recognised in law.”
Patrick Green KC, representing Mr Fox, previously argued that neither Mr Blake nor Mr Seymour had “suffered any actual, real-world consequences” due to the actor’s tweets.
Mr Fox told the court he was “horrified” when he saw he had been called a racist, which he later described as “a career-ending word and a reputation-destroying allegation”.
The actor-turned-founder of the Reclaim Party said he faced a “significant decline” in the number and quality of roles he was offered after he was accused of being a racist.
Laurence Fox (right) leaving the Royal Courts Of Justice. Pic:PA
Lorna Skinner KC, representing Mr Blake, Mr Seymour and Ms Thorp, said the trio “honestly believed, and continue honestly to believe, that Mr Fox is a racist”.
Mrs Justice Collins Rice did not make a ruling on whether or not Mr Fox was “a racist”.
“I am very much aware that Mr Fox would have liked to leave court with a clear determination that he ‘is not a racist’, Ms Thorp with a determination that it is substantially true that he is, and Mr Blake and Mr Seymour with an endorsement that at least they genuinely thought so, and an honest person could have thought so too,” she said.
“But the entire case is, in that sense at least, all about contested views of what does and does not amount to being ‘a racist’.”
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Speaking outside court, Mr Fox expressed disappointment that the judge had not made a ruling on the meaning of the word “racist”.
He described the decision as a “nothingburger” – defined as something insubstantial or lacking in substance – and said he planned to appeal.
In a statement on X, Ms Thorp said: “For the last three years, Laurence Fox has held us responsible for the downfall of his acting career, his failure to become London Mayor and even the increasing cost of his car insurance.
“All because on 4 October 2020 we exercised our right to free speech by expressing our honestly held opinions.
“It’s time that Mr Fox accepted that any damage to his reputation is entirely his own doing.”
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Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
R Kelly’s challenge against a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been quashed by an appeals court.
The singer was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison, a Chicago court ruled on Friday.
He was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
In his appeal, Kelly, 57, argued Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied, rather than the current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive.
The appeals court rejected this, labelling it an attempt by Kelly to elude the charges entirely after “employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet”.
He also argued that charges involving one accuser should have been tried separately from the charges tied to three other accusers due to video evidence that became a focal point of the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, only identified as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-judge panel from the appeals court noted jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the 13 counts against him “even after viewing those abhorrent tapes”.
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In a written statement, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said they plan to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly”.
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
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