"Doctor Who" actor David Tennant was facing a growing backlash over his swipe at British Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch over her stance on transgender and women’s rights.
Equalities Minister Badenoch has said she "will not shut up" after Tennant suggested she should do so at the British LGBT Awards.
Badenoch accused the ex-Doctor Who actor of being a "rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology" in a post to social media website X, formerly Twitter, last 25 June.
Tennant, who won Celebrity Ally at a ceremony recently, received cheers and applause when he said of the Conservative Cabinet minister: "I don't wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up."
Last 26 June, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak intervened in the spat which centres on trans rights.
The Prime Minister said: "Freedom of speech is the most powerful feature of our democracy.
"If you're calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn't exist, you are the problem."
The day before, Badenoch had hit back at Tennant and said: "I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritise applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls.
"A rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology he can't see the optics of attacking the only black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end.
"Tennant is one of Labour's celebrity supporters. This is an early example of what life will be like if they win.
Business minister Kevin Hollinrake branded Tennnant’s personal attack on Badenoch as "disgraceful".
"He didn’t just say she should shut up he wished she didn’t exist," he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
"I mean we believe in free speech in this country.
"As Ronald Reagan once said, if fascism every returns to this country, he was talking about the US, it will be in the name of liberalism.
"And I think David Tennant’s comments were absolutely outrageous."
Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said she did not support Tennant’s remarks.
She told Times Radio: "I personally don’t like that kind of language that was used.
"And I believe that where we discuss these issues - and it is right that we can have an open discussion about them - that we do so in a way that is absolutely frank but respectful, tolerant, and in keeping with the best traditions within our country.
"And I know that politicians, particularly female politicians, receive an awful lot of abuse sometimes and do frequently face that kind of language being used against them and I don’t think it advances a more tolerant and respectful discussion."