In the UK -

Laurence Fox 'threatened by group of actors to change his tune on BLM'

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Laurence Fox has revealed he was phoned by a group of actors who threatened his career on loudspeaker as they told him to 'change his tune' over Black Lives Matter.

The 42-year-old actor, best known for playing Detective Sergeant James Hathaway in Lewis, has previously said that he would not take the knee to show solidarity with BLM protesters as it has 'master-servant' connotations.

Fox, who caused a furore when he appeared on Question Time last January, said he would only kneel 'to propose, before god or before the queen' but stressed that others should be 'free to do what they want'.

In an interview with the Telegraph yesterday, Fox said he received a 'very threatening' phone call from a former colleague for his refusal to change his position towards the BLM movement.

'I had a very threatening phone call from one [actor] who I'd worked with for six months,' he told the Telegraph.

'When he phoned me, I heard him put it on loudspeaker and go "Shh!" so I knew there was a table of people there.

'I was warned several times that, unless I changed my tune, it would have an effect on my career.

'And then I was warned formally that it was certain to have a devastating effect on my career.'

He said that the phone call did nothing but to 'empower' him.

In June this year the actor confronted the reality that he may never find acting work again without 'expressing the "correct" opinion'.

He said it was a 'cause of sadness' at the possible loss of his career and the 'bleak view of my prospects' came after his appearance on Question Time in January.

During the show, he accused Rachel Boyle, an academic at Edge Hill University, of racism after she called him 'a white privileged male'.

He criticised the ethnicity lecturer's charges of racism amid claims that Meghan Markle was being hounded out of Britain on account of her skin colour.

However, speaking to the Telegraph yesterday, Fox said the reaction after his appearance galvanised him to fight back against the 'very, very angry minority of people who feel that they have absolutely every right to not be offended and therefore can control the language we use'.

He went on to reiterate his unwillingness to 'bend the knee' to show support for the BLM movement, saying that he would never vote Labour while party leader Keir Starmer is at the helm because he did so.

He said that taking the knee is not a gesture of solidarity, but one of subservience.

(More at the Link)