Jeremy Clarkson news: Ex-Top Gear host avoids police probe over The Sun Meghan Markle article
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Jeremy Clarkson will remain the host on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? “at the moment”, ITV boss Kevin Lygo has confirmed.
Lygo criticised the 62-year-old presenter’s comments about Meghan Markle, describing his tirade as “awful”.
In an op-ed published by The Sun on Friday (16 December), Clarkson wrote that he dreamt of the day Markle would be made to parade naked through Britain while the crowd chanted “shame” and threw “excrement” at her.
Clarkson claimed that “everyone who’s my age thinks the same way”.
The Sun has now removed Clarkson’s comment piece from its website. “In light of Jeremy Clarkson’s tweet he has asked us to take last week’s column down,” the page now reads.
More than 60 cross-party MPs have written to The Sun’s editor to demand an apology and “action taken” against Clarkson. The SNP’s shadow culture minister also called for Clarkson to be banned from TV altogether.
Ipso confirmed on Tuesday 20 December that it had received over 17,500 complaints about the presenter’s column, more than the total it received in 2021.
Key points
ITV boss says Clarkson to remain Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host 'for the moment'
What Clarkson said
More than 60 MPs complain to The Sun editor
Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column breaks Ipso complaints record
Wednesday 21 December 2022 10:28 , Louis Chilton
I’m told there’s a lot of search currently in “How to complain about Jeremy Clarkson” on Google.
For anyone curious, Ipso have an explanatory page here.
Wednesday 21 December 2022 11:00 , Louis Chilton
For Premium subscribers: a letter to the editor regarding the Clarkson scandal.
Letters: Not in my name, Jeremy Clarkson
Wednesday 21 December 2022 11:26 , Louis Chilton
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu speaking on Channel 4 News a short while ago...
"Jeremy Clarkson's actions against Meghan Markle epitomise how the abuse of, and violence against, women in Britain has been normalised. It sends a visceral message to women that we are not safe particularly ethnic minority women" On #Channel4News pic.twitter.com/6lUNq3bkub
— Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (@SholaMos1) December 21, 2022
Wednesday 21 December 2022 11:34 , Louis Chilton
BREAKING: The Met Police has ruled out a probe into Clarkson’s article.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said it was not the job of officers to “police people’s ethics”, following speculation that the article could be investigated as a hate crime.
Read more...
Jeremy Clarkson won’t face police probe over Meghan column, Met chief says
Wednesday 21 December 2022 12:05 , Louis Chilton
Labour MP Diane Abbott among those looking for Keir Starmer’s reaction.
Starmer had previously welcomed an endorsement from Clarkson as a sign “that people are beginning to notice that the Labour party has changed”.
“Jeremy Clarkson endorsement shows Labour has changed” said Keir Starmer. Does Starmer still welcome Clarkson’s support? https://t.co/q0Ob83sI7L
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) December 21, 2022
Wednesday 21 December 2022 12:31 , Louis Chilton
This is, incidentally, the only tweet that Jeremy Clarkson has “liked” on Twitter in the last three days.
It is a democracy and people are speaking about the disgust they feel at his language. That it is the majority of people that are revolted by it. Is just how democracy works and he is feeling the full force of it.
— Quich es (@Quiches8) December 20, 2022
Wednesday 21 December 2022 13:10 , Louis Chilton
ICYMI: Seven of Clarkson’s most controversial comments about Meghan Markle.
The Sun comment was far from his first offence...
7 of Jeremy Clarkson’s most controversial comments about Meghan Markle
Wednesday 21 December 2022 13:40 , Louis Chilton
Also re-upping this one: Clarkson is staying on as host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? amid calls for ITV to remove him.
Jeremy Clarkson to remain Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host for ‘the moment’
Wednesday 21 December 2022 14:13 , Louis Chilton
From a week ago, this Voices comment by Lucy Thackray: “Meghan Markle is the best thing to ever happen to the royal family”.
Opinion: Meghan Markle is the best thing to ever happen to the royal family
Wednesday 21 December 2022 14:45 , Louis Chilton
Footage of Met Police’s Sir Mark Rowley dismissing the suggestion that Clarkson could face a police probe.
“We’ll keep a close eye on it.”
Sir Mark Rowley responds to being asked if Jeremy Clarkson has committed a hate crime and if he should go to jail. pic.twitter.com/eK7T38xGsd
— LBC (@LBC) December 21, 2022
Wednesday 21 December 2022 15:19 , Louis Chilton
SNP politician John Nicolson has shared some of the abusive messages he’s received over the past day after calling for ITV to get rid of Clarkson.
He’s not the only person to have reportedly suffered online abuse over the subject – Carol Vorderman said she received “a lot of abuse” after criticising the ex-Top Gear host.
Read more:
Carol Vorderman says she’s ‘received a lot of abuse’ for criticising Jeremy Clarkson
Wednesday 21 December 2022 15:49 , Louis Chilton
A reminder of what exactly it was Nicolson said.
“Following grotesque comments made about the First Minster and The Duchess of Sussex, I do not believe Jeremy Clarkson should be allowed back on our screens. I’ve written to the Chief Executive of ITV.”
Read the full story:
MP says Jeremy Clarkson should be banned from TV after ‘grotesque’ comments
Wednesday 21 December 2022 16:30 , Louis Chilton
Going to re-share some of the main stories over the past day or so.
Firstly, the news that Clarkson’s story had broken the record for the number of complaints lodged to Ipso, the independent press standards organisation.
Read more:
Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan article breaks Ipso complaints record
Wednesday 21 December 2022 17:00 , Louis Chilton
Piers Morgan weighed in on the issue with what many might characterise as a predictable response.
Read more:
Piers Morgan weighs in on Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column
Wednesday 21 December 2022 17:30 , Louis Chilton
The boss of ITV confirmed that Clarkson would not be removed from his post as presenter of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
He did, however, condemn Clarkson’s article in strong terms.
Read more:
Jeremy Clarkson to remain Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host for ‘the moment’
Wednesday 21 December 2022 18:00 , Louis Chilton
More than 60 MPs have written to The Sun complaining about the article.
Read more:
MPs complain to The Sun about ‘hateful’ Jeremy Clarkson Meghan Markle article
Wednesday 21 December 2022 18:30 , Louis Chilton
Police have confirmed that Clarkson is not going to face investigation over the article, despite calls from some critics to probe it as hate speech.
Read more:
Jeremy Clarkson won’t face police probe over Meghan column, Met chief says
James O’Brien says Clarkson’s ‘gotta go’ on new podcast episode
Wednesday 21 December 2022 19:00 , Inga Parkel
James O’Brien thinks Clarkson’s “gotta go” after his “disgusting” op-ed against Markle.
Despite not normally buying into “that kind of response to off-air behaviour having on-air consequences”, the radio presenter said he believes “society demands standards”.
Therefore, “I don’t think they can keep him on the job”, O’Brien said on Wednesday’s (21 December) episode of his “The Whole Show” podcast.
The callous of idiocy of Tory attempts to demonise NHS staff; the Daily Mail’s maddest anti-Meghan moment yet & the consequences of Jeremy Clarkson’s depravity. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll never look at burgundy coats in the same way again…https://t.co/0Qnq825gE8
— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) December 21, 2022
“Pretty much everybody (except the weirdest people on the planet) agrees that it was absolutely disgusting.”
Writer Joyce Carol Oates says Clarkson should be taken by ‘his word'
Wednesday 21 December 2022 19:30 , Inga Parkel
Joyce Carol Oates, the writer who penned 2000 historical fiction novel Blonde, about Marilyn Monroe, believe we should take Clarkson “at his word”.
when an individual like Jeremy Clarkson admits publicly to a "cellular hatred" of a Black woman, we should take him at his word: racism is primitive, irrational, sub-human & sub-ethical emotional violence directed against someone perceived as "other." https://t.co/PK6Xy3yFUX
— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) December 21, 2022
“When an individual like Jeremy Clarkson admits publicly to a ‘cellular hatred’ of a Black woman,” she wrote on Twitter, “we should take him at his word: racism is primitive, irrational, sub-human & sub-ethical emotional violence directed against someone perceived as ‘other’.”
Emily Clarkson called out media’s ‘inhumane’ treatment of Markle days before her father’s op-ed
Wednesday 21 December 2022 20:10 , Inga Parkel
Days before Jeremy Clarkson’s op-ed was published on 16 December, his daughter Emily had condemned the media’s “inhumane” treatment of Markle.
On 14 December, alongside a screenshot of a publication blurb which read, “Harry and Meghan release yet another Netflix trailer for their show waging war on the Palace ahead of new three episodes dropping TOMORROW”, Emily wrote a lengthy caption.
“My steadfast defence of them has never been of the individuals I don’t know, rather of two people who have, objectively, been treated APPALLINGLY,” she said.
“It’s bullying on a mass scale,” Emily continued. “I feel DEEP discomfort with our lack of humanity towards these two people.”
Following the publication of Clarkson’s column, she spoke out against her father, standing against “everything my father wrote”.
Read more
Jeremy Clarkson’s daughter speaks out against Meghan Markle rant
‘I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred,’ said podcast host
This isn’t the first time Clarkson has made disparaging comments about Markle
00:16 , Tom Murray
While many people are rightly shocked by Clarkson’s comments in The Sun, it’s far from the first thing the former Top Gear presenter has said about the duchess.
Below, The Independent has collated seven occasions where the TV personality has made digs at Markle.
7 of Jeremy Clarkson’s most controversial comments about Meghan Markle
Clarkson says he’s ‘horrified to have caused so much hurt'
01:31 , Tom Murray
A reminder of Clarkson’s response to the row caused by his column in The Sun.
It wasn’t an apology as such, but Clarkson said he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”.
“Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it,” he wrote on Twitter. “In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.”
Read more
Jeremy Clarkson vows to ‘be more careful’ as Meghan column gets 12,000 complaints
Duke and Duchess of Sussex yet to comment
02:59 , Tom Murray
Neither the Duke and Duchess of Sussex nor the royal family have commented on Clarkson’s statements yet.
However, amidst the row, Harry and Meghan did announce a charitable Christmas gesture.
A photograph of a pile of presents was shared to the Archewell Foundation’s website on Tuesday (20 December), alongside the news that the couple had “organised gifts for more than 30 different reunified and refugee families” at the US and Mexico border.
Read more
Meghan and Harry announce Christmas charity gesture amid Jeremy Clarkson row
04:00 , Peony Hirwani
SNP politician John Nicolson has shared some of the abusive messages he’s received over the past day after calling for ITV to get rid of Clarkson.
He’s not the only person to have reportedly suffered online abuse over the subject – Carol Vorderman said she received “a lot of abuse” after criticising the ex-Top Gear host.
Read more:
Carol Vorderman says she’s ‘received a lot of abuse’ for criticising Jeremy Clarkson
05:00 , Peony Hirwani
The boss of ITV confirmed that Clarkson would not be removed from his post as presenter of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
He did, however, condemn Clarkson’s article in strong terms.
Read more:
Jeremy Clarkson to remain Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host for ‘the moment’
06:41 , Peony Hirwani
Jeremy Clarkson should be banned from TV after ‘grotesque’ Meghan Markle comments, MP says
An MP has written to ITV ‘s chief executive demanding that Jeremy Clarkson be taken off air completely, following his controversial remarks about the Duchess of Sussex.
John Nicolson, SNP shadow culture secretary and MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, shared a letter addressed to Dame Carolyn Julia McCall, who has been chief executive of ITV since 2018, on Twitter.
MP John Nicolson wrote on Twitter: “Following grotesque comments made about the First Minster and The Duchess of Sussex, I do not believe Jeremy Clarkson should be allowed back on our screens. I’ve written to the Chief Executive of ITV.”
07:42 , Peony Hirwani
Piers Morgan weighs in on Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column
Piers Morgan has commented on Jeremy Clarkson’s controversial rant about Meghan Markle in a national newspaper.
In an op-ed for The Sun, published 16 December, Clarkson wrote that he loathes the Duchess of Sussex “on a cellular level” and wants people to “throw lumps of excrement” at her.
The article has since been removed from the publication’s website after the column became the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most complained about article.
Piers Morgan weighs in on Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column
08:42 , Peony Hirwani
A petitioner is raising funds on GoFundMe to ‘bring legal action against Jeremy Clarkson and The Sun’
A petitioner named Dr Louise Raw is organising a GoFundMe fundraiser to “bring legal action against Jeremy Clarkson and The Sun.”
“We are not hopeful that Ipso will hold the press accountable for spreading hate,” the petition description reads. “The Ipso Chairman is known to be close to Rupert Murdoch. We have therefore resorted to crowdfunding for legal action to be taken against Jeremy Clarkson and The Sun, and its editor Victoria Newton.
“Although the legal route is expensive, I have received a lot of support already and have a team of lawyers who have agreed to review the case.
“All proceeds will exclusively go towards bringing a legal case against Jeremy Clarkson and/or The Sun and its editor Victoria Newton. Any excess funds will be donated to a domestic violence charity,” the petition says.
So far, Dr Raw’s fundraiser has raised a little over £11,000.
09:42 , Peony Hirwani
This isn’t the first time Clarkson has made disparaging comments about Markle
While many people are rightly shocked by Clarkson’s comments in The Sun, it’s far from the first thing the former Top Gear presenter has said about the duchess.
Below, The Independent has collated seven occasions where the TV personality has made digs at Markle.
7 of Jeremy Clarkson’s most controversial comments about Meghan Markle
10:42 , Peony Hirwani
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are yet to issue a statement about Jeremy Clarkson’s The Sun article.
Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column breaks Ipso complaints record
11:42 , Peony Hirwani
Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column breaks Ipso complaints record
12:42 , Peony Hirwani
SNP politician John Nicolson has shared some of the abusive messages he’s received over the past day after calling for ITV to get rid of Clarkson.
He’s not the only person to have reportedly suffered online abuse over the subject – Carol Vorderman said she received “a lot of abuse” after criticising the ex-Top Gear host.
Read more:
Carol Vorderman says she’s ‘received a lot of abuse’ for criticising Jeremy Clarkson
