Bosses at GB News have reportedly held crisis talks as they try to keep the channel on the air following numerous scandals.
TV regulator Ofcom has opened 12 investigations into the channel, with the newest being an examination into the misogynist comments made by Laurence Fox against a female journalist. Fox had appeared on Dan Wootton’s show before he launched into the tirade.
The former actor and right-wing political commentator unleashed a torrent of abuse towards Ava Evans, adding on Dan’s show that he did not know “any single self-respecting man who would get into bed with that other than incels”. Ava was shocked at the comments, adding that it made her “physically sick” to hear.
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In the aftermath of the debacle, both Wootton and Fox were suspended from the broadcaster, following a series of apologies from Dan. Ofcom also received more than 7,300 complaints from disgruntled viewers.
(Image: Twitter)
Now, as the channel fights to stay on the air, investors and managers at the broadcaster are said to have been meeting this weekend on how to manage the slew of bad publicity from the scandal. A former employee at the channel told The Observer that “it is crunch time for GB News”.
The insider added: “They cannot just bask in notoriety forever because they do need to make some money and they need to keep the right to call themselves a channel for news programmes”.
Bosses at the channel are reportedly split on how to handle the issue, with some believing it as an opportunity to move forward.
However, others think that Dan and Laurence’s suspension goes against the core values of the broadcaster, including free speech. GB News’ main backer Paul Marshall, has already sunk £10m into the channel and is trying to keep it on the air at all costs.
(Image: JeremyVineOn5/Twitter)
GB News has already broken broadcasting rules three times since its grand launch in 2021. However, the channel is adamant that it will not breach the guidelines for a fourth time.
Tim Montgomerie, a former editor at UnHerd – a company also owned by Paul Marshall – said that GB News will need to undergo a “major course correction” in coming days. He added that Paul would have been less than impressed with Fox and Wootton’s discourse.
Dan Wootton was suspended from the broadcaster after refusing to stop Laurence from carrying on with his rant against Ava Evans. He also ignored calls from production to apologise after the interview and refused to read an apology from the autocue.
(Image: GB NEWS)
Dan uploaded two apologies to Ava to his Twitter account, to which Laurence responded by leaking screenshots of a conversation between the two. In the pic, the former Lewis actor joked about the chaos the conversation created. Captioning the pic, Fox wrote: “Honesty is the best policy”.
Speaking to staff on Friday (September 29), GB News’ chairman Alan McCormick said an internal investigation was being launched into the scandal. He added that “GB News is not a place that tolerates personally denigrating comments or insults”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
