Sorry, this video isn't available any more.

Laurence Fox has been criticised for his appearance on BBC’s Question Time, during which he claimed that being called a ‘white privileged man’ is racist.

The 41-year-old actor joined a panel including culture secretary Helen Whately, the SNP’s Alyn Smith and Labour’s Shami Chakrabarti on Question Time, and of course, the topic of Meghan Markle came up.

And Laurence clashed with an audience member who claimed that the Duchess of Sussex was the victim of racism.

The woman said: ‘The problem we’ve got with this is that Meghan has agreed to be Harry’s wife, and the press have torn her to pieces.




‘Let’s be really clear about what this is, let’s call it by its name, it’s racism. She’s a black woman and she has been torn to pieces.’

Laurence clashed with a woman in the audience (Picture: BBC)

Laurence interrupted and said: ‘It’s not racism. No it’s not. We’re the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe.

‘It’s so easy to throw the card of racism at everybody and it’s really starting to get boring now.’

The audience member replied: ‘What worries me about your comment is, you are a white privileged male who has no experience in this’ – which Laurence did not take kindly to.

The Lewis star – a member of the Fox theatre dynasty who attended the elite fee-paying Harrow School – fired back: ‘I can’t help what I am, I was born like this, it’s an immutable characteristic so to call me a white privileged male is to be racist, you’re being racist.’

Laurence suggested that the term white privilege was racist (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Also in the show, Laurence said: ‘We need to call out racism when it’s seen, when it’s obvious and when it’s there, and we should stand together to condemn it.

‘We should be careful and use racism when it’s there and when it’s obvious, and not call someone racist because they don’t agree with you.’

There was serious backlash to Fox’s comments on the show, with political activist Femi Oluwole tweeting: ‘Laurence Fox: “I was born this way. To call me a white privileged male is racist” WHAT THE SH***.

‘Apparently we should only call out racism when it’s seen and obvious… So subtle racism behind closed doors… Absolutely fine. Cheers Laurence Fox!

‘My privilege (education/financial) means despite being black, I don’t experience all the adversity racism causes. e.g. Discrimination could never trap me in poverty. That means any time I try to downplay racism, it should be taken with a pinch of salt.

‘So when Laurence Fox calls it racist to point out that he’s a white privileged male, when he’s trying to downplay racism, even though, as a white privileged male, he has even less of an experience of the adversity racism causes than I do as a black privileged male….’

So when Laurence Fox calls it racist to point out that he's a white privileged male, when he's trying to downplay racism, even though, as a white privileged male, he has even less of an experience of the adversity racism causes than I do as a black privileged male….#BBCQT pic.twitter.com/xLw9BFz6eF — Femi (@Femi_Sorry) January 17, 2020

#bbcqt please don't ever have Laurence Fox on ever again. Every time he was called on to answer he just rolled his eyes and made a flippant comment. No opinion, no knowledge, he just looked bored and like being there was so beneath him. — Lorna (@Firecrackeruk) January 16, 2020

Awwww Laurence Fox is bored of racism. Poor lad. #bbcqt — Jonathan Harvey (@JOJEHARVEY) January 16, 2020

Laurence Fox shouting down a woman of colour in the audience to obliterate her opinion that the treatment of Meghan Markle is racist absolutely convinced me that there is no racism in the UK. Not. #bbcqt — Paul Campbell (@PauloCampbell) January 16, 2020

“We’re the most tolerant lovely country in Europe”. Laurence Fox 2020. I’ll just pop round and tell that to my 80 year old dad who just had to apply to remain in a country he’s lived in for 71 years. — Emilia di Girolamo (@EmiliaDG) January 17, 2020

Laurence Fox was disgraceful on BBCQT last night. Someone says “there is a problem with something you don’t experience” and he literally turned around and said no there isn’t and actually you saying that is doing the thing to me. — Luke Barnes (@northernluke) January 17, 2020

I don’t believe in slagging off people in the profession but Laurence Fox #QuestionTime — Ingrid Oliver (@ingridoliver100) January 16, 2020



Laurence, who divorced from Billie Piper in 2016, seemed to be happy with the backlash, though, tweeting: ‘My T**tter feed tonight is like Christmas come early.

‘Speak truth to nonsense.’

Fox, also known for his role in Victoria, hit headlines last November when he conducted an interview in which he called out ‘woke culture’ and claimed that women at #MeToo and Time’s Up protests wore revealing clothes.

The dad-of-two told The Times: ‘These people are very aware of the erotic nature of their costume yet totally unaware of the hypocrisy of the message.’

Laurence said he’s becoming ‘increasingly intolerant’ due to his views, as he said: ‘I say, “Can we just get on and not be mean to each other?” But I feel compelled to be mean to the wokies.’

To him, if everyone only said the ‘correct’ thing he’d believed the world’s ‘going to die of boredom’.

Got a showbiz story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you.

MORE: Gwyneth Paltrow reveals husband helped her through ‘very emotional’ MDMA experience

MORE: Love Island’s Ollie Williams tries to sell £8,000 stuffed buffalo head amid trophy hunting controversy