Fox (Appellant) v Blake and others (Respondents)

Permission to Appeal application lodged

Case summary
Permission to Appeal
Previous proceedings

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2026/0041

Parties

Appellant(s)

Laurence Fox

Respondent(s)

(1) Simon Blake (2) Colin Seymour (3) Nicola Thorpe

Issue

Did Mr Fox’s social media posts cause or were likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour within the meaning of section 1(1) the Defamation Act 2013?

Facts

This case arises out of posts on the social media platform known at the relevant time as Twitter (now X) in October 2020. Mr Fox (“the Appellant”) called for a boycott of Sainsbury’s over an employee diversity and inclusion policy. Mr Blake and Mr Seymour (“the Respondents”) separately responded by calling Mr Fox a racist. Mr Fox replied calling each of them a paedophile. Mr Fox is an actor and is known for his work in television series. Since 2020, Mr Fox has been active in politics. He jointly formed a new political party, Reclaim, of which he became leader. At the relevant time he had a Twitter account in his own name with about 250,000 followers. Mr Blake has worked in the social sector for 30 years, mostly with children and young people. He received an OBE in 2011 for services to the voluntary sector. Since 2018, he has been CEO of Mental Health First Aid (“MHFA”) England, a social enterprise supporting education around mental health issues. Mr Blake has a Twitter account in own name with a substantial number of followers. Mr Seymour is a professional drag and circus-skills artist (stage name ‘Crystal’). In 2019, he was a contestant in the first season of BBC’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. He is an advocate for the gay community and racial equality and presents a podcast and is a regular columnist in the Metro. Mr Seymour has a Twitter account in the name Crystal with a substantial number of followers. Mr Blake and Mr Seymour sued Mr Fox for calling them paedophiles. Mr Fox counterclaimed for the use of the word racist. The High Court upheld the claims brought by Mr Blake and Mr Seymour and dismissed Mr Fox’s counterclaims. Mr Fox appealed to the Court of Appeal which upheld his liability in respect of the claims against him but allowed the appeal as regards his counterclaims. The remaining issues in the counterclaims, including the merits of the defences to those counterclaims, shall be tried by a judge of the High Court. Mr Fox now seeks permission to appeal to the Supreme Court as regards his liability in the claims of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour.