Dan Wootton’s MailOnline contract terminated after GB News suspension over Laurence Fox comments
MailOnline has terminated the contract of its columnist Dan Wootton, a spokesperson for the news site’s parent company said.
The GB News presenter had written a regular column for the online outlet since 2021, with his last article published on 29 June.
In July, the Byline Times published an investigation alleging that Mr Wooton had used a pseudonym to solicit sexual images of former colleagues at The Sun.
Mr Wootton has strenuously denied the allegations.
MailOnline announced it was pausing his column last month in order to investigate the claims.
On Wednesday, Mr Wooton was suspended by GB News after an interview on his show saw the former actor Laurence Fox make a series of offensive comments about a female journalist, included asking “who would want to shag that?”.
A spokesperson for DMG Media, the parent company of MailOnline, said: “Following events this week, DMG Media can confirm that Dan Wootton’s freelance column with MailOnline – which had already been paused – has now been terminated, along with his contract.”
Mr Wootton was previously given the backing of GB News after Byline Times’ allegations of historical misconduct emerged.
Last week, GB News confirmed it would not be investigating the claims, because they did not relate to his work for the channel.
GB News chief executive, Angelos Frangopoulos, told the culture select committee he is monitoring “serious allegations” but that “none of these allegations have been admitted or proved by an independent body”.
Mr Wootton previously addressed the allegations live on his GB News show, dismissing them as “unspeakable slurs” from “revolting blogs”.
He claimed “dark forces” were “trying to take this brilliant channel down.”
In July, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage wrote to The Sun requesting details of the newspaper’s investigation into Mr Wootton.
The Sun’s editor Victoria Newton issued a letter in response which said: “We take these allegations seriously but we are in no position to comment further and indeed we make no commitment to make any further comment depending on the outcome of our investigation.”
During his time at The Sun, Mr Wootton was best known for breaking stories including Megxit – when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from royal duties.
In January 2021, he announced he would be leaving his job as executive editor at the tabloid, where he had previously edited the Bizarre column.
He was showbiz editor at the now-defunct News of the World and previously appeared on ITV’s Lorraine as showbiz correspondent.
Until his suspension, Mr Wootton hosted his own show on GB News, Dan Wootton Tonight, which explored daily news stories through monologues by the presenter and interviews with guests.
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