Actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox has been ordered to pay £90,000 in damages each to two people he referred to as “paedophiles” on social media.
Fox was successfully sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over a row on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After losing a High Court libel battle, it means he will have to pay out a total of £180,000.
Fox called Mr Blake and Crystal, a former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant whose real name is Colin Seymour, “paedophiles” in an exchange they had over Sainsbury’s decision to mark Black History Month back in October 2020.
The Reclaim Party founder said at the time he would boycott the supermarket and he attempted to counter-sue the pair, and broadcaster Nicola Thorp, over tweets accusing him of racism.
In a previous judgement in January, Mrs Justice Collins Rice dismissed Fox’s counter claims and ruled in favour of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour.
Then in today’s ruling, the judge said Mr Fox should pay out £180,000.
She said: “By calling Mr Blake and Mr Seymour paedophiles, Mr Fox subjected them to a wholly undeserved public ordeal. It was a gross, groundless and indefensible libel, with distressing and harmful real-world consequences for them.”
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