It was as Whitehall looked for positives after a year in which the music industry “has had it tough.”
Jack Whitehall took aim at failed London mayoral candidate and Covid-sceptic Laurence Fox while hosting the Brit Awards 2021 on Tuesday night.
As Whitehall described the last year as a “tough” one for the music industry, pointed out that Laurence Fox’s bid to be London Mayor had managed to have a positive impact on music.
As he was hosting the awards show for the fourth consecutive year, the comedian said: “The music industry has had it tough this year, but there have been some good news stories… Laurence Fox’s tragic foray into politics that meant at least he’s finally stopped making music.”
Fox released an album in 2016, and this year decided to run for London mayor as a candidate of his own political party, Reclaim.
However, all did not go to plan as the actor as he lost his £10,000 electoral deposit, gathering just 1.9% of the vote.
Fox finished 6th behind YouTuber Niko Omilana, whose main policy was to reduce the price of Freddos to 5p.
Whitehall also took some light-hearted swipes at the likes of Piers Morgan and Olly Murs during the night.
‘I can’t tell you how grateful we are to be here tonight for the first live event back in the O2 arena. Yes, this venue has been emptier than Piers Morgan’s diary,’ Jack said.
Re-elected London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also mocked Fox for his shambolic performance in the mayoral election.
Khan responded to a tweet pointing out that Fox’s ex Billie Piper sold more copies of her single Because We Want To in its opening week than Fox got votes for London mayor.
The Labour mayor said: “It is a great tune tbh.”
It is a great tune tbh.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 9, 2021
In case you were wondering, Piper’s debut single sold 80,000 copies in its first week, almost double Fox’s paltry 47,000 votes.