Laurence Fox has said his life has been “destroyed” by racism claims that have seen faeces posted through his door and left his acting career in tatters.
The actor was giving evidence on the fourth day of a libel case over his posts on X, formerly Twitter, where he criticised Sainsbury’s for giving black staff a safe space during Black History Month.
Fox called for a boycott of the chain in October 2020 and was called “a racist” by drag artist Crystal, actress Nicola Thorp and former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake.
The 45-year-old referred to each of them as a “paedophile”, triggering the libel action from Mr Blake and the drag star.
He’s countersuing the trio and began his evidence in the witness box at London’s High Court on Monday.
In a statement, Fox said he was “horrified” to be labelled a racist, calling it “career-ending word, and a reputation-destroying allegation”.
He said: “It was very hurtful, firstly as it is not true, and secondly because it was baseless: it felt as if the claimants had posted it to try and destroy me.”
Fox, known for appearing in detective drama Lewis, revealed faeces had been put through his door twice since the legal action began and that his “life was destroyed by what they did”.
He said his acting income used to be around £500,000 to £600,000 per year – and he’d auditioned for shows such as Succession and “multiple other Netflix, Disney+ and HBO productions”.
Fox and ex-wife Billie Piper in 2014
Fox said his salary had now dramatically fallen and he’d been dropped by his agent – calling his career “irreparably harmed, if not destroyed”.
“Without the prospect of work from her [the agent] and the income from it, I couldn’t get a mortgage,” he said.
“The only income I earned at that point was from the Reclaim Party.
“To this day I haven’t bought a house, I only received one mortgage offer very recently, and it was far too high and wouldn’t have been worth my while to take it.”
Fox is countersuing Simon Blake (left), Nicola Thorp and Colin Seymour – aka Crystal
‘Piper worried about kids’ safety’
He said his ex-wife, former popstar and actor Billie Piper, was also “concerned” their children weren’t safe anymore.
“I thought she had every right to feel that way, every mother would be worried,” Fox said.
He also told the court he had suffered similar troubles to Nigel Farage, claiming his bank had questioned transactions and his car insurance had increased by nearly £9,000.
The lawyer for the three people suing Fox earlier told the trial they honestly believed – and still believe – that Fox is a racist.
Lorna Skinner KC said he had made “a number of highly controversial statements about race”.
She told the court: “If and to the extent that Mr Fox has been harmed in his reputation, it is his own conduct and not the claimants’ comments on it that caused that harm.”
Ms Skinner also previously highlighted several posts of his, including one in which he tweeted four pride flags in the shape of a swastika.
“Such a disgusting post could only be made by a complete ignoramus or an intelligent racist with an agenda. Mr Fox is the latter,” she said.
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Fox said he had no problem with people of different sexualities, adding: “The streets of London are covered with the Pride flag, yet nobody is allowed to criticise it.
“I was making the point that the only other flag in history that society was not allowed to criticise was the Nazi flag.”
And seeking to explain his criticism of Sainsbury’s, he said the supermarket was “trying to improve their own image, branding themselves as the anti-racist supermarket”.
He added: “I see the phrase ‘safe space’ as just locally friendly language for discrimination by segregation, dividing people down the line of skin colour.”
The trial before is due to end this week, with a decision expected at a later date.
