Funnyman Fox celebrates his 90th birthday, but remembers the dark days when he was accused of sexual assault
The veteran comedian was in top form, entertaining a crowd of around 100 people with jokes and playing in the wee hours of the morning at Dublin’s Isles of Green Hotel where he was joined by stars such as Red Hurley.
However, after celebrating as a comedian for 55 years, the RTE Liveline Funny Friday star says he still struggles with being the victim of a defamation scandal in 2019.
“These years of my life are not what they should have been from that accusation,” Sil told the Sun World this week.
“My phone stopped ringing and people were booking me. I lost all my work, including Funny Friday, which I did for nine years and absolutely loved. I had so many friends calling me for support, but I also didn’t hear from some.
“My age, every year is precious, and I have been robbed of those years. It was a waste for me. I have had treatment for depression and I have advice. He still wakes up some nights thinking about the crime and the trial.
“My name was drawn through the mud. I was all over the media and my photography was in all the notebooks every day I went to court.
The showbiz veteran had vehemently denied sexually assaulting the woman after agreeing to have a photo taken with her on December 17, 2018. The charge against him was brought in 2019.
In May 2020, the charge was eventually thrown out by Judge Paula Murphy in the Dublin District Court due to inconsistencies between the complainant’s evidence and CCTV footage shown in the non-jury trial.
The woman claimed that Sil Fox put his left hand on her groin and tickled her private area in 30 seconds as a photo was taken after she beckoned him to her table in a Dublin bar for a selfie.
But the CCTV footage shows his hand on the table the whole time.
Comedian Sil Fox says the state’s pursuit of a sex assault has ‘ruined’ his life
Comedian Sil Fox says ‘telling my family I was accused of sexual assault was the hardest part’
RTE Snippet Liveline ‘Funny Friday’, says comedian Sil Fox
Sil Fox today sued the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice, the Attorney General and the State over the failed prosecution.
In papers filed in the High Court, Fox’s representatives say: “The right to privacy has not been protected and serious reputational damage has resulted from false allegations.”
This week, Fox revealed that the case is still ongoing. “I’m not fighting for damages, I just want an apology,” Sil said.
Looking back on his life as he marks his 90th birthday, Sil told how he came from a poor background in Dublin’s Oliver Bond Flats and made it all the way around the world as a comedian.
But before he became a professional hostess at the age of 35, he worked in a Dublin factory making women’s clothing and hats.
Sil, therefore, may have ventured into comedy. “I used to meet my pastors once a week in a pub called the Red Lion,” he recalls. “There was a boy who used to make silver cups that were in cigarette packs, and he got the best joke he told the cup. I received it several times. Then I found myself looking for books and getting comedy and I started doing it in different restaurants.
I put my name down to perform, but finally, when I came to the restaurants and cabaret stories, I was called by him. I then did my first professional gig on the Lower Deck at Portobello. A guy called Chris Byrne was the compere and he gave me my first cis ever, for which I got 30 bob.”
Sil credits Pope John XIII for his decision to pursue comedy full time. “Pope John XIII removed the rule that women should wear hats at Mass, so that our hat was killing us at that time,” he explains.
In the heyday of the Irish cabaret scene in the 1970s, Sil supported major stars such as our own Joe Dolan, Dickie Rock and Sonny Knowles, as well as visiting star Tony Christie of Amarillo fame. “I worked a lot at Clontarf Castle and Braemore Hall,” Sil recalls.
Backed by the legendary UK comic Norman Wisdom, he performed a show in Las Vegas and also performed in Sona Kong!
“For many years I also worked with Killester Travel as a guest on their golf trips to South Africa, Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands. I look back when he enjoyed life.’
Sil the clown, who is available for gigs, considers himself lucky that his brain is still razor sharp and he is in perfect health. “I quit smoking 25 years ago”, adding: “I only used two inequalities – one for each eye, so I could not find the mountains.”
