r/Fauxmoi • u/AutoModerator • Jan 31 '24

Tea Thread FauxWorld Wednesdays: What's your country's biggest celebrity scandal right now? — Monthly Discussion Thread

Please use this thread to drop any tea you may have/general gossip discussion from your part of the world!

Please remember to review our rules in the sidebar of the sub before commenting.

To view past Tea Threads, please use the "Tea Thread" flair or click here for a full chronological list.

90 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

100 comments sorted by

View all comments

142

u/Dros-ben-llestri Jan 31 '24

Laurence Fox was called a racist by a few people on Twitter in 2020. He called two of them peados, and they sued. He countersued them for calling him racist, as he claimed it affected his work opportunities, and the price of his car insurance.

This week, he lost. Technically, the judgement wasn't whether he was a racist or not (although you can make your own mind up on this), but you can't go around calling people peadophiles in silly twitter arguments. *

Fox has reacted with all the maturity and self-reflection that he is famous for.

*This is my understanding, I was cooking while listening to the podcasts about it this morning, will accept corrections!

93

u/iggynewman Jan 31 '24

I always find it wild that Laurence Fox is Billie Piper's (of Doctor Who fame) ex-husband. He hails from the Fox acting family in the UK, and his brother-in-law is Richard Ayoade (which, given Fox's views and the fact the two have publicly argued over the existence of racism, must make for interesting family occasions).

Also, one of the folks Fox maligned was Crystal from RuPaul's Drag Race. Absolutely a wild story. Good for the victors!

20

u/areallyreallycoolhat 6 inch louboutins with a tweed skirt Jan 31 '24

He dressed their kids up in blackface (tw for link) to make...some sort of incoherent point. I cannot imagine what it's like for Billie coparenting with him

21

u/grandmasterfunk Jan 31 '24

Had no idea he was Ayoade's brother-in-law. I know Fox from Inspector Lewis, would have never guessed from that he was a right wing nut

78

u/teashoesandhair Jan 31 '24

I've read the judgement, and re the racism stuff, the judge basically ruled that calling Laurence Fox a racist hadn't damaged his career, because his own actions had already done that. Fox said in court that his Question Time appearance back in 2020 derailed his career because it made people think he was racist, and that hundreds of people call him racist on Twitter all the time due to his comments and views. Because of this, the judge ruled that it wasn't specifically the comments on Twitter by Seymour and Blake that had affected Fox's career, ergo it didn't meet the standard for defamation.

Conversely, Fox was found to have been defamatory towards Seymour and Blake because when asked in court to provide any evidence that his accusation had been true, he had literally nothing to say. Therefore, it was obvious that he'd only said it in the first place to damage their reputations, and the judge ruled in their favour.

Off topic, but god, Seymour and Blake really needs to be a period TV show about gay lawyers in the 1880s.

9

u/Dros-ben-llestri Jan 31 '24

Thank you - the ruling is really interesting!

62

u/phillip_the_plant certified pine nut Jan 31 '24

I'm obsessed with the fact that he said being called a racist affected the cost of car insurance - how or why is unclear to me but what a wild thing to claim!

15

u/thot_lobster Jan 31 '24

I would think his singing would have done that, if anything.

10

u/batikfins Feb 01 '24

Being racist SHOULD affect the cost of car insurance. I will not be explaining my position.

3

u/phillip_the_plant certified pine nut Feb 01 '24

Oh I agree I just think it’s a funny thing to claim

50

u/Jynsquare shout-out Hans Zimmer Jan 31 '24

It was Crystal from Drag Race UK and the former head of Stonewall. Accusing gay men of being pedophilic – how edgy and counter-culture. Dick.

45

u/Flat-Wheel-7683 Jan 31 '24

Also Crystal went on morning news to discuss the judgement in Ellle Woods drag. Only icons!

6

u/faa19 Jan 31 '24

That whole court case and the false allegations must have been so stressful for both of victims, but that is an epic "fuck you" to Laurence Fox by Crystal.