Twitter has been forced to remove a “grotesquely racist” tweet posted by Laurence Fox, saying it violates their rules.
The actor was responding to news that Manchester City football player Benjamin Mendy has been charged with four counts of rape.
The charges against Mendy relate to three complainants over the age of 16, according to Cheshire Constabulary, and are reported as having taken place between October 2020 and August 2021.
Fox took to Twitter in response to a news article about the charges against Mendy, stating, ‘Get kneeling, f*ckers’.
The tweet has since been removed by the social media platform for violating their rules.
? | NEW: Twitter have deleted this tweet from Laurence Fox as it violated their rules pic.twitter.com/2m4ua91aUT
— Politics For All (@PoliticsForAlI) August 26, 2021
The post has amassed more than 2,200 likes, 4,700 retweets and 2,600 comments with other Twitter users condemning the actor.
One said: “What kind of logic is this? One black person did something horrible so we should stop taking the knee?”
While another wrote: “Can’t decide whether this tweet perfectly illustrates how stupid you are or how racist you are. What has kneeling for racial equality have to do with this?”
Mendy has since been remanded in police custody and will appear at Cheshire Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, August 27.
That Laurence Fox tweet isn’t a random act of hate – it’s the orchestrated, well-funded right-wing culture war revealing its true colours
— Sam Bright (@WritesBright) August 26, 2021
This grotesquely racist tweet underlines that opposition to Black Lives Matter isn’t driven by being anti-Marxist or all the other excuses. It’s driven by racism. pic.twitter.com/Og4J7KZlD6
— Owen Jones ? (@OwenJones84) August 26, 2021
LAURENCE FOX'S CAREER: They think it's all over…
— The DM Reporter (@DMReporter) August 26, 2021
…it is now. pic.twitter.com/FCBTGJcMJK
Look how quickly kneeling stopped being about Marxism and started being about black people generally.
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) August 26, 2021
Laurence Fox is just a performative racist. pic.twitter.com/Q4yjZuz6qr
You know if you take the crimes of one person and act like it’s got anything to do with all black people you can’t whine like a shit divorced ex actor next time someone calls you a big racist
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) August 26, 2021
How many times have I said that racists in the media don't have to be explicit, they just have to downplay racism, so that nothing changes?
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) August 26, 2021
Laurence Fox was a prime example of that.
Now you can see the genuine racism behind the people who keep telling us to shut up about it. pic.twitter.com/41zSXc7H2P
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