Claire Foy says ‘the word sl*t shouldn’t exist’

Claire Foy has spoken out about sl*t-shaming, explaining that she hates the phrase and the word “sl*t”.

Speaking on Woman’s Hour on Monday about her new BBC series, A Very British Scandal, the actor was asked about the character she plays, the Duchess of Argyll, and whether she believes she was the first woman to be sl*t-shamed by the mass media.

“I think ‘by the mass media’ is probably the important note there,” Foy said.

“I mean, I hate the phrase ‘sl*t-shaming’, I absolutely hate it. But I think women have basically been sl*t-shamed forever.

“I think Eve was probably sl*t-shamed. I mean, look what she did to Adam,” she said.

When asked to explain why she hated the phrase “sl*t-shaming”, Foy replied that she disliked it “much in the same way that I hate any word that prostitution… [or] any word where we’re calling a woman a prostitute or anything like that becomes derogatory.

“There’s something about it which I just hate the rephrasing of, the ownership of. That title and it being used in a way which is sort of, justifies it even more.

She continued: “Yeah, just the word ‘sl*t’ I just think shouldn’t probably exist.”

Foy’s character in the three-part BBC series, the Duchess of Argyll, tells the story of Argyll vs Argyll, one of the biggest scandals of the 1960s and the most expensive divorces of the 20th century.

During the divorce hearing, the Duchess was painted as a nymphomaniac and a divorce between the couple was granted on the grounds of her adultery.