A BBC presenter has admitted he had no idea that a transgender athlete he interviewed had previously boasted about hitting women.
Justin Webb sat down with US ex-martial arts fighter Fallon Fox to discuss transgender athletes competing in women’s events on the Radio 4 Today programme.
But following the airing of the chat, people challenged Mr Webb as to why he interviewed Fox, who had previously said she “enjoyed” knocking out two women.
Fallon Fox
Twitter
The BBC presenter has admitted he had no idea about Fox's comments
Ian West
In a response to the challenges online, Mr Webb said: “I think you're right. I had no idea (and frankly I am one of the better informed) and the producers didn't either.
“We need to tackle these issues fairly but not from the ‘everyone calm down’ perspective that fails to note who is violent and who is not.”
Fox, 46, had previously spoken out about enjoying beating up women who oppose transgender rights.
In a now deleted post on Twitter, Fox said in 2020: “For the record, I knocked two out.
“One woman's skull was fractured, the other not. And just so you know, I enjoyed it.
“See, I love smacking up TEFS in the cage who talk transphobic nonsense. It's bliss!”
The interview came after swimming’s world governing body FINA voted to ban athletes who have gone through male puberty from racing in women’s events.
In addition, FINA will set up a working group with a view to establishing an open competition category, open to athletes “without regard to their sex, their legal gender, or their gender identity”.
The sport’s new gender inclusion policy was passed by more than 70 percent of member federations at an extraordinary congress during the ongoing World Championships in Budapest over the weekend.