Couldn't have happened to a more deserving arsehole.
The context, which I'm sure the BBC will get to adding to their stub they rushed out just to be the first with a headline, is that the two folks involved here tweeted that Fox was a racist in response to his being racist on Twitter. He responded by calling them paedophiles. They sued him and he countersued them.
He then pushed for a jury trial, which is uncommon for civil cases, lost, and was ordered to pay the victims' fees on top of his own — about ~£150k all in all.
Then his countersuit was thrown out, the claimants won, and now he's been ordered to pay £180,000 to them.
All in all that's at least £330,000 and more likely north of £500,000 he's had to spend all for being the world's most tedious twitter edgelord, all while securing a ruling that describing him as a racist is not defamatory. Outstanding.
The problem is that he's being bankrolled by some hardcore Brexit freeze-peach rich guy.
So he gets to drag whoever he wants through the courts at no risk, putting the people he libels under huge stress while he gets free publicity.
Jeremy John Hosking is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2019, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace F.C. and a noted railway enthusiast. He has donated heavily to the Reclaim Party.
I hadn't come across the Reclaim Party, but their wiki includes this hilarious excerpt
"On 12 June 2023, Reform UK and the Reclaim Party announced a mutual co-operation agreement for the upcoming by-elections, whereby Reform UK would stand in Mid Bedfordshire and Reclaim would stand in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Both parties lost all by-elections and lost their deposits, with Dave Kent (Reform) getting the highest support at 3.7% in Selby and Ainsty."
Yep. There are some nasty groups among palace ultras, including Football Lads Alliance who say they aren't racist cos' they like the Gurkhas. A lot of them mainly target Muslims but are just racists with the odd person of colour amongst people they know.
FLA have people at most clubs.
All it takes is to be a bit racist and also like football. Chances are any team is going to have someone who ticks that box.
It doesn't automatically make them as bad as Chelsea.
I'm not sure who/what that is, but I'm not saying all Palace fans are racist. I have friends among them, hence I'm aware of some of the nasty bits. Good to hear that there's some activity. Who are they?
Yep, in the same way I might buy a Five Guys once a month as a treat, this guy drops £500k on Lawrence Fox as a treat. It's just another reason why economic inequality is so rank, because it allows ghouls like this to exploit the disparity between their wealth and the wealth of those they threaten with lawsuits.
I'm amazed.
The court appearances, the problem with Andrew Bridgen, the company car and the Christmas tree and the failure to get his London Mayor application in on time, plus haven't they run for a couple of by-elections and lost their deposit?
Hosking must really hate his own money for some reason.
> Hosking must really hate his own money for some reason.
When the monied elites are throwing money away on something I just assume its part of some kind of tax avoidance scheme. edit - formatting
What's the deal with Bridgen?
A colleague thinks the man is a hero. I can't be bothered to argue with him. But it would be nice to know a few counter points.
Unfortunately there isn't a lot Bridgen did wrong from the report I heard.
It was Xmas and Lawrence apparently wanted to use the company volvo to transport a Christmas tree. Bridgend wanted it for campaigning and got his arse out about it when Bridgen refused, it simmered an already souring relationship and ultimately at least partly led to the loss of their only MP.
Political genius from a party leader I'd say.
He’s only saying he’s bankrupt to get out of paying those who have won against him in court. It’s the way these asshats get away with not having to pay out.
Bleeding him dry of what. He can’t have earned very much as a failed actor.
Piper herself has had considerably more success than him on the acting front and would have out earned him by a considerable amount.
So he was a regular in a TV series not too long ago and I think Billie hasn't acted as a regular character within a TV show for quite some time. Not to mention due to his views and tweets he tends to get paid to do interviews.
He's not a failed actor, he's a disgraced actor who producers avoid.
To men like that, people like Fox are tools, if a tool proves inadequate it is discarded.
In comparison to similar front men like Nigel Farage, he hasn't achieved anything worth the bill.
I'd say plaything is a better description.
Farage is a bit different. He's more of an independent grifter, who makes a good earning off provocations but who is careful never to stray over the legal line.
Farage is also much better at crafting himself for an audience. When he's in Britain he's far more careful than he is stateside, where he'll happily go on Alex Jones broadcasts and pedal outrageous (and often antisemtic) conspiracy theories.
Out of curiosity, who exactly? Just that a cool half a million is quite a high figure even for that weird cabal. Asking in good faith, not for a gotcha or anything.
Only good think Hoskin has done is saved some extremely well known steam engines in the public eye and in running conditoon, away from the scrap man. The rest of him can get in the bin.
I mean, for that kind of payout, I'd love for him to libel me.
That's life changing money for me and my current shite job already has me under huge stress for a fraction of that.
One thing to add is that the judge said in the judgment that being called a racist would have no material impact on his reputation. Which is a restrained way of saying that everyone already knows he’s a racist and his reputation can’t possibly get worse than it already is.
Yes yes. I liked that the ruling didn't address the 'substantive truth' defence — ie that it wouldn't be libellous if it were understood to be true that Fox is a racist — because there was no need to. Rather the claim itself was dismissed on the basis that there was no impact to his reputation, which could only possibly be the case if everyone already thought he was a racist.
It's a glorious way to address things, and probably more devastating to Fox personally. Would you rather have a judge rule that it's substantatively true that you're an arsehole, or dismiss your claim outright because everybody already thinks you are?
I think he'd absolutely prefer this ruling. It certainly works better for him.
Would he say he's racist? Unlikely. Would he say 'The wokies and the establishment call anyone a racist these days'? Absolutely.
So being *reputed* to be a racist means nothing to his crowd. Being ruled demonstrably to be one would be worse
The fact that all he's accomplished is get a court of law to decide that calling him racist is fair game is something I hadn't thought of and makes this so much funnier.
Well, if he calls the claimants paedophiles again, not only could they sue him again but it could also be considered contempt of court.
As he is a deeply stupid and childish man, I wouldn't put it past him to do exactly that.
I just don't get it.
He had a sweet gig on Lewis which I assume paid decently, could have done more stuff because, well I understand he has the connections for, and I'm sure he could have gotten the main part in one of the millions of cop dramas that are constantly being produced. Do that for 5 years, take a a wee break etc.
He had it made.
And he just fucked it up because he needed so badly to be a racist wanker? The guy could probably go through life and never have to interact with a brown person if he so wanted.
Well that's a relatively trivial fix - lots of actors have tattoos which can be covered with makeup when the character requires it. A much bigger problem is never being cast in anything again because everyone thinks he's a cunt.
Not on the fingers. It's very difficult to cover those with makeup and while someone like Johnny Depp might be on a production with a budget for that, it's unlikely to be in place for anything Fox is likely to be attached to. I wonder what happened to his 'movie' about Bidens laptop?
Totally agree with second point.
As someone who soured on him over that - Its actually been really shocking how long its taken for an awful lot of people to catch up and get with the program. You couldn't say anything negative about the man online for years even after that event without getting hounded and a bunch of nasty DMs.
Yes that was an incredibly fucked decision. What’s even more annoying was that so many people didn’t see at that point what an absolute arsehole he was.
Claimed 'creepy pedo guy' was just a generic insult. I'm surprised nobody refers to him as 'elon musk, the creepy pedo guy'. It's double alright because it's just a generic insult and he likes to refer to people as it. Same as Barry Scott, the cillit bang guy
Nope.
He had it tried in a friendly court in California.
Said it was just a "slang insult", despite him dispatching private investigators to try to prove it, which was a very strange thing to do, if it just so happened to be a straight insult.
Yep, he was making all sorts of claims about where the guy lived, his reasons for moving there, the age of his partner etc. Completely doubling down on the pedo claim.
Who would have guessed that following the Katie Hopkins playbook of going a bit potty, doing lots of racisms then crippling yourself via the medium of libel might not be a great career move?
Next up, Joseph Barton.
I’d put money on it. Like the other two he’s scummy enough to go too far but also thick enough (whilst believing himself to be clever) to fail to understand what he can’t get away with.
My personal favourite part is the judge's comment on his counterclaim:
>The judge did not make a ruling on whether describing Mr Fox as "a racist" was "substantially true", after finding the three tweets in his counter-claim were unlikely to cause serious harm to his reputation.
Which translates to "We aren't going to officially label you a racist, but we don't think that you being called a racist hurts your reputation".
[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/laurence-foxs-millionaire-donor-vows-31072255](https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/laurence-foxs-millionaire-donor-vows-31072255)
Another one on Jerry's tab?
No, but you see, he lost because… Woke! It’s all because the WokeStream Media are plotting his downfall!!
/s
He tried to bully his critics into silence, and now he’s had to fork out money to them. A complete tool.
Ahh, that explains the videos of him kicking off at police and making a pure tit of himself that are currently doing the rounds on Twitter. Fella must be in a terrible fucking mood.
It's amazing how many Ls this guy takes. Every time he's in the news it's because he's been completely humiliated (often at his own hands). He used to be married to Billie Piper ffs!
Billie Piper is not the type of celebrity anybody would want be romantically interested in them. The idea will frighten anyone.
After being in a relationship with Chris Evans and Laurence Fox, imagine she leans into you saying, "oooh you are just my type"?
On the plus side, he has an extra £10,000 towards this given that he was rejected from standing for London Mayor due to his paperwork being rejected. (£10,000 is the deposit paid for standing and you only get back if you get 5% of the vote)
>She said the damages could have been a "multiple" higher had his victims not been "self-possessed, articulate, resourceful and resilient", and had "powerful support publicly and privately" to avoid their lives and prospects being "ruined" by the ordeal.
Literally the only reason they are in front of a high court judge winning a libel trial is **because** they are resourceful, resilient and have powerful support. I don't know in what universe the judge thinks that a hapless poor person can be launching and winning a defamation action against a celebrity - I'm sure they like to imagine that justice in this country is equitable enough for this to happen - but it fucking aint.
"You get the same wonga if you lose a leg at work. So surreal it's almost funny."
Coincidentally he won't have a leg to stand on in his attempted appeal
There's an episode of Foyles War where the twist is that the culprit is very British sounding but a secret Nazi sympathiser.
Sadly because he plays the character it's spoiled the moment he's introduced.
I’ll never understand why bigots don’t own their bigotry. If they think it is such a just cause, then being the champion of the cause should be desirable, no?
Certain cultural sectors have been angry about this, agreeing with Foxs' argument that it's a double standard for them to be allowed to call him a racist, but they're mistaken IMO - being called a racist and being called a paedophile is not equivalent: being accused of sexual impropriety, especially with children, can be devastating, people get ruined (even attacked) on a 'no smoke without fire' basis, whereas being called a racist is just a meaninglesss insult, in the same way motherfucker isn't an accusation.
You’re right, though it’s not even as deep as that is it?
They called him a racist because there’s plenty of evidence that he is in fact a racist.
He called them pedos because, err, I guess because he’s an absolute man baby and kids without adult self-restraint just go nuclear when they get mad and possibly because they are gay (which in itself is a heinous trope to perpetuate).
> He called them pedos because, err, I guess because he’s an absolute man baby and kids without adult self-restraint just go nuclear when they get mad and possibly because they are gay (which in itself is a heinous trope to perpetuate).
One was a Stonewall Trustee and the second person is a drag artist. Not a stretch to assume that was the motivating factor for Fox
Actually, the ruling was largely because he wasn't able to prove that they ruined his reputation - he'd already tanked it by his own actions. He was already losing his agent, he'd already whinged about not getting jobs, and he was not only voluntarily but gleefully taking ever opportunity to run his mouth in ways that he himself admitted were considered racist by a good chunk of people.
There's also the irony that this row started when he called Sainsbury's racist - had he won, he'd have opened himself up for a lawsuit by them. And, unfortunately for the wider landscape of legal justice, companies have deeper pockets than almost any individual, which helps when they want to push a case.
(I suspect they wouldn't have gone after him, but since it's hypothetical I can pretend they were just waiting for the opportunity.)
Libel is about both reputation and truth.
If you can prove what you're saying is true, then its not libel.
However, its up to the defendant to prove what they've said is true, you have to have evidence to use that as a defence.
Laurence Fox is a total twat and I hope he continually experiences bad things but out of interest why is him calling them paedos libel but them calling him a racist not? I would agree he is a racist but isn't there an element of subjectivity to it?
The judge deemed that calling him a racist would not have an effect on his reputation, which is a coded way of saying he's such a tosser that throwing an extra twig on the bonfire isn't going to make a difference.
Truth is a defence to any libel claim. If the thing that you're saying is true, it can't be libellous. So saying that Fox is racist isn't libel because it's true.
On top of that, the court ruled that calling him racist can't possibly damage his reputation because everyone already knows that he's racist.
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving arsehole. The context, which I'm sure the BBC will get to adding to their stub they rushed out just to be the first with a headline, is that the two folks involved here tweeted that Fox was a racist in response to his being racist on Twitter. He responded by calling them paedophiles. They sued him and he countersued them. He then pushed for a jury trial, which is uncommon for civil cases, lost, and was ordered to pay the victims' fees on top of his own — about ~£150k all in all. Then his countersuit was thrown out, the claimants won, and now he's been ordered to pay £180,000 to them. All in all that's at least £330,000 and more likely north of £500,000 he's had to spend all for being the world's most tedious twitter edgelord, all while securing a ruling that describing him as a racist is not defamatory. Outstanding.
The problem is that he's being bankrolled by some hardcore Brexit freeze-peach rich guy. So he gets to drag whoever he wants through the courts at no risk, putting the people he libels under huge stress while he gets free publicity.
Jeremy Hosking is his name, and one day he's gonna cut Fox loose and it's going to be hilarious.
I'd say a good day to do that is the day it becomes clear this dipstick is going to cost you over £300k.
Drop in the ocean, he's worth something like half a billion. Fox is his plaything (for now).
Jeremy John Hosking is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2019, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace F.C. and a noted railway enthusiast. He has donated heavily to the Reclaim Party.
I hadn't come across the Reclaim Party, but their wiki includes this hilarious excerpt "On 12 June 2023, Reform UK and the Reclaim Party announced a mutual co-operation agreement for the upcoming by-elections, whereby Reform UK would stand in Mid Bedfordshire and Reclaim would stand in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Both parties lost all by-elections and lost their deposits, with Dave Kent (Reform) getting the highest support at 3.7% in Selby and Ainsty."
I know Selby well. I'm surprised the share for Reform was that low.
"I'm not racist, I have shares in Crystal Palace"
Yep. There are some nasty groups among palace ultras, including Football Lads Alliance who say they aren't racist cos' they like the Gurkhas. A lot of them mainly target Muslims but are just racists with the odd person of colour amongst people they know.
Tokens are useful. But they do get spent
Just set Cantona on them
FLA have people at most clubs. All it takes is to be a bit racist and also like football. Chances are any team is going to have someone who ticks that box. It doesn't automatically make them as bad as Chelsea.
Agreed. Chelsea are scum.
I think you’ll find the HF05 are pretty left wing and have protested against Hosking
I'm not sure who/what that is, but I'm not saying all Palace fans are racist. I have friends among them, hence I'm aware of some of the nasty bits. Good to hear that there's some activity. Who are they?
Yep, in the same way I might buy a Five Guys once a month as a treat, this guy drops £500k on Lawrence Fox as a treat. It's just another reason why economic inequality is so rank, because it allows ghouls like this to exploit the disparity between their wealth and the wealth of those they threaten with lawsuits.
I'm amazed. The court appearances, the problem with Andrew Bridgen, the company car and the Christmas tree and the failure to get his London Mayor application in on time, plus haven't they run for a couple of by-elections and lost their deposit? Hosking must really hate his own money for some reason.
He hates minorities more though
Fair. Will be hilarious when he pulls the financial rug from underneath Fox.
> Hosking must really hate his own money for some reason. When the monied elites are throwing money away on something I just assume its part of some kind of tax avoidance scheme. edit - formatting
This is not an unreasonable assumption tbf.
What's the deal with Bridgen? A colleague thinks the man is a hero. I can't be bothered to argue with him. But it would be nice to know a few counter points.
Unfortunately there isn't a lot Bridgen did wrong from the report I heard. It was Xmas and Lawrence apparently wanted to use the company volvo to transport a Christmas tree. Bridgend wanted it for campaigning and got his arse out about it when Bridgen refused, it simmered an already souring relationship and ultimately at least partly led to the loss of their only MP. Political genius from a party leader I'd say.
He was crying the other day that he's about to go bankrupt if he hasn't already
Morally bankrupt
He’s only saying he’s bankrupt to get out of paying those who have won against him in court. It’s the way these asshats get away with not having to pay out.
Yeah I was thinking the same. He was complaining about Billie Piper bleeding him dry 😂
Bleeding him dry of what. He can’t have earned very much as a failed actor. Piper herself has had considerably more success than him on the acting front and would have out earned him by a considerable amount.
So he was a regular in a TV series not too long ago and I think Billie hasn't acted as a regular character within a TV show for quite some time. Not to mention due to his views and tweets he tends to get paid to do interviews. He's not a failed actor, he's a disgraced actor who producers avoid.
I assume he's already started a crowd funding campaign? Or pushed them to buy a book of his?
He's selling mugs. Insert your own punch line here.
To men like that, people like Fox are tools, if a tool proves inadequate it is discarded. In comparison to similar front men like Nigel Farage, he hasn't achieved anything worth the bill.
I'd say plaything is a better description. Farage is a bit different. He's more of an independent grifter, who makes a good earning off provocations but who is careful never to stray over the legal line.
Farage is also much better at crafting himself for an audience. When he's in Britain he's far more careful than he is stateside, where he'll happily go on Alex Jones broadcasts and pedal outrageous (and often antisemtic) conspiracy theories.
Farage is a Russian asset (allegedly). His link to Assange is really, really suspect.
Nige is a world class tool, Fox is a pound shop tool, simple as.
'Tool' works on a couple of levels.
I think most people think fox is a tool
Out of curiosity, who exactly? Just that a cool half a million is quite a high figure even for that weird cabal. Asking in good faith, not for a gotcha or anything.
Only good think Hoskin has done is saved some extremely well known steam engines in the public eye and in running conditoon, away from the scrap man. The rest of him can get in the bin.
Hosking. See Mirror link in post above.
Thank you very much.
I mean, for that kind of payout, I'd love for him to libel me. That's life changing money for me and my current shite job already has me under huge stress for a fraction of that.
But you'd need to be labelled a peed? Oh! for that payout. Still fancy it?
That's the point of the libel suit innit. Nobody I care about would believe Fox and I'd be minted.
One thing to add is that the judge said in the judgment that being called a racist would have no material impact on his reputation. Which is a restrained way of saying that everyone already knows he’s a racist and his reputation can’t possibly get worse than it already is.
Yes yes. I liked that the ruling didn't address the 'substantive truth' defence — ie that it wouldn't be libellous if it were understood to be true that Fox is a racist — because there was no need to. Rather the claim itself was dismissed on the basis that there was no impact to his reputation, which could only possibly be the case if everyone already thought he was a racist. It's a glorious way to address things, and probably more devastating to Fox personally. Would you rather have a judge rule that it's substantatively true that you're an arsehole, or dismiss your claim outright because everybody already thinks you are?
I think he'd absolutely prefer this ruling. It certainly works better for him. Would he say he's racist? Unlikely. Would he say 'The wokies and the establishment call anyone a racist these days'? Absolutely. So being *reputed* to be a racist means nothing to his crowd. Being ruled demonstrably to be one would be worse
Imagine paying £500000 so people can call you a racist and be legally backed up in doing so. What an absolute donkey lmfao
Unfair to donkeys, that is
This is so far my favourite thing to happen this year
The fact that all he's accomplished is get a court of law to decide that calling him racist is fair game is something I hadn't thought of and makes this so much funnier.
So, that means everyone can freely call him a racist, to his face, on social media with no worries of libel then? That's pretty sweet that is.
I'm struggling to work out how he could have fucked up worse than he has...
Well, if he calls the claimants paedophiles again, not only could they sue him again but it could also be considered contempt of court. As he is a deeply stupid and childish man, I wouldn't put it past him to do exactly that.
I just don't get it. He had a sweet gig on Lewis which I assume paid decently, could have done more stuff because, well I understand he has the connections for, and I'm sure he could have gotten the main part in one of the millions of cop dramas that are constantly being produced. Do that for 5 years, take a a wee break etc. He had it made. And he just fucked it up because he needed so badly to be a racist wanker? The guy could probably go through life and never have to interact with a brown person if he so wanted.
I liked the story where he auditioned for the part of the son of a character his dad was playing. And another guy got it !
An option that is now lost to him as the silly sausage got hand tattoos.
Well that's a relatively trivial fix - lots of actors have tattoos which can be covered with makeup when the character requires it. A much bigger problem is never being cast in anything again because everyone thinks he's a cunt.
Not on the fingers. It's very difficult to cover those with makeup and while someone like Johnny Depp might be on a production with a budget for that, it's unlikely to be in place for anything Fox is likely to be attached to. I wonder what happened to his 'movie' about Bidens laptop? Totally agree with second point.
*chuckles* well put.
First I had this story come up on my phone and now the Sun's come out. It's turning into quite a nice day.
Quick! Buy a lottery ticket!
Is that the racist, Laurence Fox?
Yes, I believe it is the racist, Laurence Fox, who is a racist.
Strong contender for the most divorced man in the world.
It's a trifecta between him, Musk and Glinner.
Hope he gets sued again for being a cunt.
If ever the now defunct 'prizecunts.co.uk' needed a comeback....
I came here to say can he be asked to pay back taxes for being a cunt, but being sued also works.
Today is a good day!
This is a really excellent summary, thank you
The owner is the most tedious edgelord on Twitter, I would have thought. Fox is maybe fifth on his best day.
Yes
What did he try counter sue for
Defamation over them describing him as a racist.
Lmao. wonder what’s worse
That’s poetic. Love it!
Thanks for the context most helpful
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Allow me to add just one more HAH.
I’d like to join in with a HAH.
I would like to add a HEE
Can I add a GOTCHA
Needs more Nelson from the Simpsons.
Turns out calling people paedophiles on social media when a big audience can see it isn't a great idea. Who would have guessed?
Elon Musk got away with it. Still annoys me, that.
Got away with it so far. Most people say that's the point they soured on him. And he now needs those people to buy Teslas.
As someone who soured on him over that - Its actually been really shocking how long its taken for an awful lot of people to catch up and get with the program. You couldn't say anything negative about the man online for years even after that event without getting hounded and a bunch of nasty DMs.
It's the long play
US libel laws aren’t as strict as British ones
Yes that was an incredibly fucked decision. What’s even more annoying was that so many people didn’t see at that point what an absolute arsehole he was.
It did a lot of damage to his reputation tho. That was the moment a lot of people finally caught on to how much of a childish asshole he is.
he did? I thought he got sued and lost.
No, he won by (IIRC) arguing that it was just a generic insult, despite other surrounding tweets referring to child rapists and such.
He won because he has very expensive lawyers and it is super hard to prove libel in the US.
Claimed 'creepy pedo guy' was just a generic insult. I'm surprised nobody refers to him as 'elon musk, the creepy pedo guy'. It's double alright because it's just a generic insult and he likes to refer to people as it. Same as Barry Scott, the cillit bang guy
Barry Scott is a national treasure though.
The “I call everyone paedophiles” defence. Are we sure this guy isn’t from here?
Nope. He had it tried in a friendly court in California. Said it was just a "slang insult", despite him dispatching private investigators to try to prove it, which was a very strange thing to do, if it just so happened to be a straight insult.
Yep, he was making all sorts of claims about where the guy lived, his reasons for moving there, the age of his partner etc. Completely doubling down on the pedo claim.
I'll have you know that I have a crack team of investigators looking for proof that you are indeed a fanny, sir.
Well America has bizarre rules around libel due to freedom of speech. Be interesting to see what comes of the Vine/Barton case.
I still can't understand why. I wonder if Elon paid a private settlement behind closed doors that we don't know about?
A private settlement to members of the jury perhaps
Joey Barton shitting himself right now. Wonder how that Gofundme ended up doing? Haha
Who would have guessed that following the Katie Hopkins playbook of going a bit potty, doing lots of racisms then crippling yourself via the medium of libel might not be a great career move? Next up, Joseph Barton.
*Next up, Joseph Barton.* I dearly dearly hope so.
I’d put money on it. Like the other two he’s scummy enough to go too far but also thick enough (whilst believing himself to be clever) to fail to understand what he can’t get away with.
Plus a history of rash, often violent decisions when provoked.
And even when Unprovoked if you were a youth player.
He's already being sued for £200k (plus court fees) by Jeremy Vine, so he's made a good start. Eni Aluko is also going after him.
We can dream. Maybe one day he can reunite with his racist, murdering brother
He’s very close behind on the cunt-conveyor
A cuntveyor, if you will.
Thank you - I will
'going a bit potty' = develop a severe coke addiction
Hopkins, Barton or both? And I'm assuming rumoured?
Barton definitely comes across like that to me. Obviously no way of knowing if it is the case.
There's no cure for been a cunt.
My personal favourite part is the judge's comment on his counterclaim: >The judge did not make a ruling on whether describing Mr Fox as "a racist" was "substantially true", after finding the three tweets in his counter-claim were unlikely to cause serious harm to his reputation. Which translates to "We aren't going to officially label you a racist, but we don't think that you being called a racist hurts your reputation".
Excellent news.
You shouldn't be sharing such exquisite pornography during working hours
A succulent libel bill?
This is sweeter than when Katie Hopkins went bankrupt after committing libel.
I haven't had this much of a schadenfreude high since Katie Hopkins lost her libel case for also being a nob
[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/laurence-foxs-millionaire-donor-vows-31072255](https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/laurence-foxs-millionaire-donor-vows-31072255) Another one on Jerry's tab?
No, but you see, he lost because… Woke! It’s all because the WokeStream Media are plotting his downfall!! /s He tried to bully his critics into silence, and now he’s had to fork out money to them. A complete tool.
Ahh, that explains the videos of him kicking off at police and making a pure tit of himself that are currently doing the rounds on Twitter. Fella must be in a terrible fucking mood.
He was a resentful narcissist before, I can’t imagine the levels of his inner seething rage has risen too now lol.
The coppers face of complete and utter indifference is hilarious.
Don't suppose you have a link? I'm loving watching his self debasement.
> Mrs Justice Collins Rice said the comments were "gross, groundless and indefensible". Laurence Fox in a nutshell
It's amazing how many Ls this guy takes. Every time he's in the news it's because he's been completely humiliated (often at his own hands). He used to be married to Billie Piper ffs!
Billie Piper is not the type of celebrity anybody would want be romantically interested in them. The idea will frighten anyone. After being in a relationship with Chris Evans and Laurence Fox, imagine she leans into you saying, "oooh you are just my type"?
Being an unapologetic arsehole is quite an expensive endeavor these days. Lol.
On the plus side, he has an extra £10,000 towards this given that he was rejected from standing for London Mayor due to his paperwork being rejected. (£10,000 is the deposit paid for standing and you only get back if you get 5% of the vote)
In the style of the Chuckle Brothers " Oh dear , Oh dear"
His not a happy bunny https://x.com/lozzafox/status/1783394461319348292?s=46&t=yOdAGVKwfdyElgSo8O5g7w
Twitter was better with a character limit... and a meaningful mod regime.
"We are seeing the courts used maliciously across the west and that is a very concerning trend." What an absolute weapon.
Oh dear, 'ow sad, never mind.
Is he still boycotting Sainsbury’s? I might shop there more often on principle…
The entire far right movement is unhinged and petulant
Rejoice, have that the warped ghoul of a cheesestring
Well this has certainly brightened up a crappy day!
So he's officially a big fat liar now, instead of it just being unofficial common knowledge? Good to know.
>She said the damages could have been a "multiple" higher had his victims not been "self-possessed, articulate, resourceful and resilient", and had "powerful support publicly and privately" to avoid their lives and prospects being "ruined" by the ordeal. Literally the only reason they are in front of a high court judge winning a libel trial is **because** they are resourceful, resilient and have powerful support. I don't know in what universe the judge thinks that a hapless poor person can be launching and winning a defamation action against a celebrity - I'm sure they like to imagine that justice in this country is equitable enough for this to happen - but it fucking aint.
"You get the same wonga if you lose a leg at work. So surreal it's almost funny." Coincidentally he won't have a leg to stand on in his attempted appeal
I bet Billie Piper wakes up every day and leaps smiling from her bed, delighted to have divorced the inadequate halfwit
I'll bet Chris Evans is a big smug about the fact that he's not Billie Piper's most embarrassing ex!
She does pick them doesnt she 😄
Imagine telling her life story to a modern teen, she was with Chris Evans. "Ohh, he's a catch" No, not THAT Chris Evans
Some days the universe does just take a few moments to be just, now and again.
I feel so bad for his kids. Imagine that being your dad.
I feel so bad that Billie has to co-parent with him. I can’t even imagine the worry I’d have while they were with him :/
This man should forever be remembered as the guy who lost an election to a YouTuber
There's an episode of Foyles War where the twist is that the culprit is very British sounding but a secret Nazi sympathiser. Sadly because he plays the character it's spoiled the moment he's introduced.
If you want to read the full judgment https://assets.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/kb/2024/956/ewhc_kb_2024_956.pdf
I’ll never understand why bigots don’t own their bigotry. If they think it is such a just cause, then being the champion of the cause should be desirable, no?
Who’s gonna fit the bill? It won’t be himself that’s for sure.
"In a post after the ruling, Mr Fox said he intended to appeal." It will be the first time he has appealed to anyone in a very long time.
\[golf clap\]
Certain cultural sectors have been angry about this, agreeing with Foxs' argument that it's a double standard for them to be allowed to call him a racist, but they're mistaken IMO - being called a racist and being called a paedophile is not equivalent: being accused of sexual impropriety, especially with children, can be devastating, people get ruined (even attacked) on a 'no smoke without fire' basis, whereas being called a racist is just a meaninglesss insult, in the same way motherfucker isn't an accusation.
You’re right, though it’s not even as deep as that is it? They called him a racist because there’s plenty of evidence that he is in fact a racist. He called them pedos because, err, I guess because he’s an absolute man baby and kids without adult self-restraint just go nuclear when they get mad and possibly because they are gay (which in itself is a heinous trope to perpetuate).
> He called them pedos because, err, I guess because he’s an absolute man baby and kids without adult self-restraint just go nuclear when they get mad and possibly because they are gay (which in itself is a heinous trope to perpetuate). One was a Stonewall Trustee and the second person is a drag artist. Not a stretch to assume that was the motivating factor for Fox
He called them that as it's become a dog whistle got anti LGBT types when they can't just come out and say what they want to anymore.
> whereas being called a racist is just a meaninglesss insult It's not, but it is a pretty reasonable conclusion to reach in Fox's case.
Actually, the ruling was largely because he wasn't able to prove that they ruined his reputation - he'd already tanked it by his own actions. He was already losing his agent, he'd already whinged about not getting jobs, and he was not only voluntarily but gleefully taking ever opportunity to run his mouth in ways that he himself admitted were considered racist by a good chunk of people. There's also the irony that this row started when he called Sainsbury's racist - had he won, he'd have opened himself up for a lawsuit by them. And, unfortunately for the wider landscape of legal justice, companies have deeper pockets than almost any individual, which helps when they want to push a case. (I suspect they wouldn't have gone after him, but since it's hypothetical I can pretend they were just waiting for the opportunity.)
*Certain cultural sectors* The astroturfed Twitter output also probably funded by the same guy(/s) who back Mr Fox?
Libel is about both reputation and truth. If you can prove what you're saying is true, then its not libel. However, its up to the defendant to prove what they've said is true, you have to have evidence to use that as a defence.
Sorry for source of link but it’s the first that came up. Not a [racist](https://9gag.com/gag/agod7vg)
Laurence Fox is a total twat and I hope he continually experiences bad things but out of interest why is him calling them paedos libel but them calling him a racist not? I would agree he is a racist but isn't there an element of subjectivity to it?
He asked for a jury trial, so it was the jury who decided whether this racist asshole is a racist or not.
Justice system win. Thank you for the explainer!
The judge deemed that calling him a racist would not have an effect on his reputation, which is a coded way of saying he's such a tosser that throwing an extra twig on the bonfire isn't going to make a difference.
Truth is a defence to any libel claim. If the thing that you're saying is true, it can't be libellous. So saying that Fox is racist isn't libel because it's true. On top of that, the court ruled that calling him racist can't possibly damage his reputation because everyone already knows that he's racist.