Lucy North/PA
Laurence Fox reportedly used the N-word during a High Court libel battle that was sparked over racism allegations online.
In a ruling on Monday, High Court judge Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal, whose real name is Colin Seymour, dismissing Fox’s counter-claims.
Fox had called Blake and Crystal “paedophiles” in an exchange about a decision by Sainsbury’s to mark Black History Month.
The Reclaim Party founder – who said at the time that he would boycott the supermarket – counter-sued the pair and broadcaster Nicola Thorp over tweets accusing him of racism.
Speaking out about the ruling, Crystal said Fox had used the ‘N-word’ in his defence and defended black face (the practice of wearing make-up to imitate the appearance of a black person).
He also, as seen in this extract of his cross-examination, claimed that there were contexts in which the phrase “I hate black people” was not racist.
He said: “If a man is just released from a Ugandan jail where he’s been gang-raped by several men and he walks out and goes: ‘I hate black people’, it’s a sort of understandable response.”
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