by 
Laurence Fox has joined the growing list of awful people facing the consequences of their actions, and I couldn’t be more comfortable with my decision not to speak out on behalf of any of them.
With many so-called ‘freedom fighters’ currently frothing at the mouth because a failed actor wasn’t allowed to talk freely about a journalist being too unattractive to shag on a ‘news channel’, the question is often asked ‘why do you hate free speech so much?’.
Well, the reality is I support free speech, but I also think abusive pricks should face the consequences of their words and actions. So when Andrew Tate is accused of rape, I think he should stand trial and face those charges, when Russell Brand is accused of a string of sexual assaults, I think he should face the consequences of those alleged actions, and when Laurence Fox is suspended from a news channel for speaking in misogynistic and sexual terms about a female journalist with whom he disagrees, then I could not be more comfortable with him facing the consequences of those actions.
The alternative, of course, is to defend people being – at best – massive pricks, and at worst, sex offenders. I have no interest in doing that. Just one moment spent wasting so much as a single calorie of energy defending these pernicious reprobates is a moment entirely wasted.
My time and energy is finite, like yours, and I would much rather spend that time and energy supporting the words and actions of people I agree with than those I think are pricks.
In fact, my interest extends to actively wanting to see how this all plays out. Whether that be in the courts, or merely the court of public opinion, it’s quite refreshing to see consequence culture taking shape. Of course, low-information simpletons will insist this is the mainstream (or is it the Matrix these days?) trying to silence dissenting voices, and will completely ignore the very real allegations and rule-breaking undertaken by these individuals.
However, the reality is they have put their positions out into the marketplace of ideas, and the marketplace has said ‘no thanks’. Sure, there are fringe elements that will continue to lap up whatever they say, even if they were to recommend a diet of nothing but dogshit sandwiches, but they are a tiny minority. If you believe differently, just go and have a glance at the vote counts in any of the elections Laurence Fox has participated in. He is a fringe candidate. A loud one. But nothing more. He is Count Binface with a famous dad.
He, and others like him, are free to speak in whatever terms they like, about whoever they like, but we are not obliged to listen, and no media organisation is obliged to give them a platform. If such an obligation were to exist, then I would be at the front of the queue demanding my own series!
I shall continue my policy of not speaking out when arseholes face the consequences of their actions, and I will remain entirely comfortable while doing so.
