Dan Wootton has been suspended from GB News following remarks made by Laurence Fox on the broadcaster’s show about a female journalist which have been described as “unacceptable, unjustifiable and indefensible”.
Speaking on Tuesday during an appearance on Dan Wootton Tonight, actor-turned-politician Fox made a series of remarks about Ava Evans, the political correspondent for online news site Joe, including asking: “Who would want to shag that?”
In a statement, the channel said: “GB News has suspended Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox last night.
“This follows our decision earlier today to formally suspend Mr Fox. We are conducting a full investigation.”
Wootton has apologised for the remarks, saying he “regretted” the interview.
During the exchange, Wootton was heard laughing following actor-turned-politician Fox saying on Tuesday night: “We’re past the watershed so I can say this: show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman, ever, ever, who wasn’t an Incel?
“That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day after day… starting with the lie of the gender wage gap, and she’s sat there and I’m going, if I met you in a bar and that was like sentence three, chances of me just walking away are just huge.
“We need powerful, strong, amazing women who make great points for themselves, we don’t need these sort of feminist 4.0… they’re pathetic and embarrassing. Who would want to shag that?”
His comments drew strong reactions, with Conservative MP Philip Davies, who hosts a show on GB News, saying in a statement to the PA news agency: “Laurence Fox’s disgraceful remarks were completely unacceptable, unjustifiable and indefensible.”
Fox and Wootton had held the discussion following former LBC producer Ms Evans appearing on BBC’s Politics Live on Monday, where she was asked about a newspaper’s headline – Sunak urged to appoint minister for men.
She expressed her view that the idea “feeds into the culture war a little bit” and mental illness is a “crisis that’s endemic throughout the country, not specific to men and I think a lot of ministers bandy this about to – I’m sorry – make an enemy out of women”.
Ms Evans later apologised on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, for her comments, saying she was “a little rash on my anti-minister for men comments which I do regret and am actually very interested in a brief for a minister on young men’s mental health”.
Following the GB News programme, she shared a clip of Fox’s comments on her X social media handle, @AvaSantina, and also said the footage made her feel “physically sick”.
Amid Fox’s suspension and the channel launching an investigation, Ms Evans told Joe’s podcast, Pubcast, that Wootton called her “multiple times throughout the night”.
She also said: “I was getting calls up until one o’clock in the morning, voicemails… I don’t want to hear from him. This is actually nothing to do with me.
“This is a network problem, this is a presenter, guest, gallery, production issue that is nothing to do with me. I just so happen to be the person they’re talking about but I’m not in the conversation… It’s not to do with me and that’s what makes me feel most sick about it.”
Wootton said via his lawyer, ahead of the news of his suspension, that “he remains sincere in his desire to apologise personally” to Ms Evans and he “respects her wishes” if she does not want to be contacted.
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