BROADCAST regulator Ofcom has ruled a “misogynistic” tirade by former GB News presenter Laurence Fox against a female journalist was “degrading and demeaning”.

GB News bosses have been summoned to talks with the media watchdog after Fox unleashed a vile attack on political journalist Ava Evans.

Speaking after her on a show broadcast in September, Fox said: “Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever.”

He added: "Who would want to s**g that?”

He was sacked from his position at GB News, along with Calvin Robinson, who defended Fox.

Dan Wootton – on whose show Fox made the comments – was subject to an internal investigation and suspended. He has not appeared on GB News since.  

In its ruling, Ofcom wrote: “We found that Mr Fox’s comments constituted a highly personal attack on Ms Evans and were potentially highly offensive to viewers.

“They 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.

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“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.”

Wootton also came in for criticism for failing to challenge Fox. Ofcom said: “In our view, Mr Wootton’s reaction and limited challenge in response did not mitigate the potential for offence.

“Rather, they exacerbated it by contributing to the narrative in which a woman’s value was judged by her physical appearance.”

It added: “Taking into particular account that Mr Fox’s misogynistic comments were directed at an individual, went largely unchallenged by the presenter, and the absence of any apology in the programme itself, we do not consider that the significant potential for offence was justified by the context in this case.”

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Ofcom said it had found GB News to be in breach of its rules requiring broadcasters to justify “offensive language” with context.

The regulator said the episode had raised “significant concerns about GB News’ editorial control of its live output”.

It added: “We are requiring GB News to provide further detailed information about its compliance practices in this area for our consideration, and requesting it attends a meeting at our offices to discuss this.”

Evans spoke about her reaction to Fox’s comments in September last year, saying she had been left “really hurt by it”.

She said: “Do you know this is the sort of talk that you worry that men have about you when you’re not in the room. There is always sort of a worry in the back of your mind which is, ‘are people actually interested in what I’m saying or what I’m doing?’

“Or are they just looking at me … physically and I think that that clip proves that there are some men who are.”

GB News was approached for comment.