Sign in
ExploreJeremy Clarkson, one of the highest paid BBC employees, and a hugely popular host of Top Gear, a show about super cars, has been suspended, following a “fracas” with a producer. It is believed that Clarkson punched the producer after a disagreement.
It’s not the first time however that Jeremy Clarkson was warned about his behavior. In 2011 the BBC had to apologize to Mexico after the hosts of Top Gear characterized Mexicans as lazy and feckless. The hosts also mocked Germans, Albanians and Romanians among others.
A year after that, in 2012 the people of India complained about the show, after Clarkson remarked that a car with a fitted toilet is “perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots.”
In May 2014 in a video footage not intended for broadcast, it seems that Jeremy Clarkson used a racist term while reciting the nursery rhyme “eeny, meeny, miney, moe.” He later apologized saying that it might sound like he was saying a racist term, but that he wasn’t.
Later the same year the show was censored after Clarkson used a derogatory word for Asian people, and a bit after that, in October, the Top Gear crew had to escape an angry mob in Argentina because Clarkson was driving a car with a license plate number H982 FLK. This was supposedly a reference to the British military victory over Argentina in the Falkland Islands war of 1982, even though his crew insisted that it was a coincidence. After that Clarkson received a final warning from the BBC.
Top Gear has about 350 million viewers in 170 countries each week. That makes it one of the most important sources of revenue for the BBC. Clarkson is paid about $1.5 million a year, but he shouldn’t have a problem finding a job on any other station.
The fans of the show however, already started a petition to reinstate Jeremy Clarkson, and it has already been signed by over 140,000 people. You can add your signature here.
BONUS: Some of the funniest Top Gear moments
