Laurence Fox's downfall 'his own doing' says drag artist he called a paedophile

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Drag artist Crystal, who has won a libel victory over actor-turned-political-activist Laurence Fox has said the star's downfall "is his doing".

Former RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Crystal, who competed on the first UK series in 2019, was one of the two men a High Court judge ruled were libeled by the Lewis star when he called them "paedophiles" on social media. Crystal told Kay Burley in Sky News they were not ready to feel pity for Fox over his loss in court.

What, how and why?

Burley asked Crystal if they had sympathy for Fox, to which they replied: "The downfall of his own career is his own doing... It's hard to [have sympathy] because I have spent the last three years feeling very attacked by him. I'm not there yet."

Crystal - real name Colin Seymour - said: "I have sympathy for the people who have continually been targeted as paedophiles, nonces and groomers by the Far Right people that he's emboldened. I think there's a huge swathe of the population that are experiencing this nastiness right now and I think it's part of what he's contributed to creating."

Asked how Fox had appeared in court Crystal revealed: "Erratic. Defensive. He used the N word in the box. He defended Black face. He couldn't agree that saying I hate Black people is a racist statement. It was very hard to watch."

The performance artist agreed with Burley that social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has become a "sewer". They said: "The day he called me a paedophile I received dozens of horrible, horrible messages. 'There's not enough bullets in the world', things like that. Horrible things to read and that hasn'tt stopped in the three years since."

Fox has shared his plan to appeal the decision on social media. He wrote on X: "I haven’t slept a wink, so forgive me if this is rambling..." Of his own libel claims he said: "If losing your entire career does not meet the threshold for serious harm, then I don’t know what does." He added: "I feel utterly bereft and totally hopeless."

Fox, 45, was sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over a row on X in October 2020. Fox used the term 'paedophile' against Blake and Crystal in an exchange about a decision by Sainsbury's to celebrate Black History Month.

The actor and musician counter-sued the pair and former Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp over tweets which accused him of racism. High Court judge Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Blake and Seymour and dismissed Fox's arguments.

Read more: Laurence Fox

• Who is Laurence Fox? From actor to controversial TV pundit

• Laurence Fox libelled two men when he referred to them as 'paedophiles', High Court judge rules (Sky News, 3 min read)

• Laurence Fox loses libel case after calling former RuPaul's Drag Race star a paedophile (Deadline, 2 min read)