Ofcom received aroundover the episode, in which guest Laurence Fox made a series of ‘unacceptable and disgraceful’ personal comments about female journalist, Ava Evans.
Both men were suspended by the broadcaster after Wootton laughed in response to Fox’s widely criticised comments, in which he asked about Evans: ‘Who would want to shag that?’ In his apology, Wootton said his ‘inappropriate’ reaction to the comments about the political journalist were a ‘very unfortunate lapse of judgement.’for the misogynistic rant and said he stood by ‘every word of what I said’ and branded the attack ‘free speech.’investigating
under Rule 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code which states when ‘applying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context’. Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom chief executive, said: ‘Over the last few days there has been speculation and commentary about our role as the independent broadcast regulator. These are important issues and I wanted to be clear about our rules.