Ben Hunte Says He's Recieved Abuse After Lawrence Fox Tweet

The BBC’s LGBT+ Correspondent, Ben Hunte, has taken to twitter to condemn the abuse that he has received following a tweet made by actor Laurence Fox.

The tweet, since deleted by Fox - who is no stranger to inflammatory tweets - posted a picture of Hunte’s twitter profile with the caption “So glad I’m not paying for this anymore #DefundTheBBC”. Since it was posted, followers of Fox - who bills himself as a “free speech advocate” and paradoxically cites “progress” as one of his values - have proceeded to send racist and homophobic abuse towards Hunte.

Taking to Twitter and Instagram, Hunte issued the following statement:

“My family and I have been sent racist and homophobic abuse as a result of the following screenshot of me being posted.

I am fine - but I will let the police take over.

If you disagree with my job, or with the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines, or with wider LGBT-related decisions I am not involved in, please do not contact my family with hate. Please use the BBC’s complaints process.

I am doing my job to the best of my abilities. I am proud of being a journalist and so grateful to those who share their experiences with me. Thank you”.

An outpouring of support for Ben Hunte and his family has followed from the LGBT+ community, not unfamiliar with Fox’s history of making abusive tweets about LGBT+ people. Back in October, Pink News reported that Fox was being sued jointly by Stonewall Deputy Chair and Mental Health First Aid England CEO Simon Blake and UK Drag Race star Crystal after calling them “pedophiles” in response to them describing him as racist over his tweets reacting to Sainsbury’s decision to celebrate Black History Month this year.

We at myGwork condemn the abuse that Ben Hunte has received as a result of inflammatory tweets directed at him which has resulted in homophobic and racist towards Ben. No one should face abuse for doing their job.

Watch Ben Hunte on myGwork's What Is it to Be Free? LGBT Rights in Poland discussion here.

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