Dan Wootton: GB News show with Laurence Fox breached rules, Ofcom says

Dan Wootton has been suspended from GB News since September 2023

An episode of Dan Wootton Tonight on GB News broke broadcasting rules, media regulator Ofcom has concluded.

Comments made during the programme by Laurence Fox about a female political journalist, Ava Evans, prompted 8,867 complaints to Ofcom.

Viewers complained his remarks were sexist, misogynistic and offensive.

Ofcom said his remarks “constituted a highly personal attack on Ms Evans and were potentially highly offensive to viewers”.

The broadcasting regulator also said it has “significant concerns about GB News’ editorial control of its live output” and is requiring the channel to “provide further detailed information about its compliance practices in this area”.

Fox, an actor turned politician, drew condemnation after asking what “self-respecting man” would “climb into bed” with her, during a live show on 26 September.

Wootton could be seen smiling and laughing throughout Fox’s remarks, before adding for “a touch of balance” that Evans had qualified her comments, and called her a “very beautiful woman”.

“[The comments] reduced her contribution to a broadcast discussion on mental health – in her professional capacity as a political journalist – to a judgment on whether she, or women like her who publicly expressed their political opinions, were sexually desirable to men,” Ofcom said in its ruling.

“As such, we considered that Mr Fox’s comments were degrading and demeaning both to Ms Evans and women generally and were clearly and unambiguously misogynistic.”

Ofcom added that Mr Wootton’s reaction and limited challenge “did not mitigate the potential for offence” and instead “exacerbated it by contributing to the narrative in which a woman’s value was judged by her physical appearance”.

It added that “no apology was made after the interview with Mr Fox in the remainder of the two-hour programme – nor were any other editorial techniques used to address the potential for offence”.

Following the comments, GB News suspended both presenters from the channel and said the insults were “totally unacceptable”.

The publisher for the MailOnline also announced it had sacked Wootton, who had previously written a column for the newspaper since 2021, “following events this week”.

The 41-year-old remains suspended from GB News, while Mr Fox was sacked in September.

Watch: Ava Evans calls insults on GB News ‘really nasty’ and says she’s since received threats online

In a statement, Evans, who is PoliticsJOE’s political correspondent, told BBC News she was “pleased” that Ofcom had recognised that the remarks made were sexist.

“My journalism is open to criticism, and it’s important that takes place in a free and fair society, but remarks of this nature only serve to stifle meaningful debate and dissuade young women from choosing journalism as a career,” she said. “That is to all of our detriment”.

She added that Ofcom needs to do be able to “impose meaningful sanctions for conduct of this kind, not just slap its perpetrators on the wrist, should they be unwilling to change their behaviour”.

At the time of the events, Evans told the BBC the comments made her feel “disgusting” and she had since received threats online, including a message telling her to “watch her back”.

The regulator said it is also investigating a number of other complaints including whether Nigel Farage broke rules requiring news and current affairs to be presented with due impartiality during a show on GB News in January.

In September, Ofcom confirmed to the BBC it had 12 investigations still open into GB News, which launched promising to “change the face of news and debate in the UK”.

Ofcom launched the investigation into Wootton’s show under rule 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code, in which broadcasters must ensure material which may cause offence is justified by the context.

The episode was the most complained about broadcast of 2023.

This is the second time that Ofcom has asked GB News “attend a meeting at our offices”. It first made the request in May 2023 after Ofcom found the broadcaster had breached rules when it aired “unopposed” claims about the Covid-19 vaccine from guest Dr Naomi Wolf.

The BBC has asked GB News, Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox for comment.