Jeremy Clarkson is publicly walking back THAT controversial column from late last year.
Clarkson came under fire back in December after he penned a column for The Sun calling out Meghan Markle and Prince Harry over their step back from royal life and subsequent California career moves. Now, he appears to be facing some of the consequences of his written words — and he doesn’t care for it.
But even in his apology that was brand-new on Monday, things may not be what they seem…! Get ready, y’all. This one is a DOOZY!
Related: Harry And Meghan Were ‘Not Welcome’ At BAFTA Tea Party Because Of William?!
As Perezcious readers will recall, the jaw-dropping lowlight of the Top Gear star’s late December column was a passage in which he demanded Markle be stripped “naked” to receive “shame” from people across all parts of Britain:
“At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.”
Days after the column was first published, The Sun walked it back with their own statement on the matter. And now, on Monday, Clarkson himself is doing the same!
But it may only be because he’s now facing career consequences?? In a Monday morning report published by Variety, that outlet claims Amazon is “likely to part ways” with the television personality soon. Their report claims the decision will come down following the end of his commissioned series run of Clarkson’s Farm and Grand Tour with the streaming service. Per Variety, the Grand Tour run will conclude after four more episodes, “the last of which is expected to land in late 2024.” And then that’s that.
Ouch!
F**king around, finding out, so on and so forth, perhaps?! Well maybe, because in a curious case of timing, the 62-year-old television host has popped up on Instagram on Monday morning. In this brand-new post, he addressed that ill-fated December column and offered public amends for it. He also admitted to reaching out to those he works with to try to make things right, too.
With this public apology, Clarkson began by writing:
“One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologise for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it’s never enough for the people who called for it in the first place. So I’m going to try and buck the trend this morning with an apology for the things I said in a Sun column recently about Meghan Markle. I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up. It’s a mea culpa with bells on.”
Then, he tried to explain what happened. He wrote the column alone, Clarkson claimed, and sent it in without having somebody else read it over to get a second opinion on its contents.
Related: Former Palace Staffers Not Backing Down From Claims Of Meghan’s Bullying!
Soon, he explained, the blowback started. And as he read it over once again to see what all the fuss was about, he was mortified:
“Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the land mine exploded. It was a slow rumble to start with and I ignored it. But then the rumble got louder. So I picked up a copy of The Sun to see what all the fuss was about. We’ve all been there, I guess. In that precise moment when we suddenly realise we’ve completely messed up. You are sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head pounds. And you feel sick. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Had I really said that? It was horrible.”
Then, he tried to put his past into context. Using his television career as an example of how he wasn’t sexist, Clarkson claimed to “abhor violence against women” despite calling for exactly that in his Markle column:
“I knew what had happened straight away. I’d been thinking of a scene in Game of Thrones, but I’d forgotten to mention this. So it looked like I was actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan’s head. I was very angry with myself because in all those controversial days on Top Gear, when I was accused of all sorts of things, it was very rarely sexism. We never did ‘women can’t park’ gags for instance. Or suggested that powerful cars were only for men. And I was thrilled when Jodie Kidd and Ellen MacArthur set fastest ever laps in our reasonably priced car. I’m just not sexist and I abhor violence against women. And yet I seemed to be advocating just that.”
Alluding to Monday morning’s news on Amazon’s apparent split from Clarkson, he also explained how his show bosses across the board were enraged at him. Amazon, specifically, was “incandescent” over the column, according to the TV host:
“I was mortified and so was everyone else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me. The Sun quickly apologised, and I tried to explain myself. But still, there were calls for me to be sacked and charged with a hate crime. More than 60 MPs demanded action to be taken. ITV, who make Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Amazon, who make the Farm Show and the Grand Tour, were incandescent.”
Yikes…
From there, he revealed the key point: he apparently sent a Christmas email to Harry and Meghan apologizing for his piece. He’s very clear on the point. He said he reached out to BOTH halves of the couple. (Remember that, because it’s gonna come back up in a minute.)
Clarkson explained:
“I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then on Christmas morning, I e-mailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too. I said I was baffled by what they had been saying on TV but that the language I’d used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry. Over the last thirty years, I have written very nearly five thousand newspaper and magazine columns, so it was inevitable that one day, I’d do a Harry Kane and sky one of the damn things. Which is what happened with the piece about Meghan.”
He wrapped things up by pondering how he could move on from the controversy, concluding:
“So can I move on now? Not sure. It’s hard to be interesting and vigilant at the same time. You never hear peals of laughter coming from a health and safety seminar. But I promise you this, I will try. Who knows? Very soon now I shall be a grandfather so in future, maybe lIl just write about that.”
You can read the full post (below):
Wow. That’s quite an apology.
He certainly seems to be willing to pay a penance for his tasteless column…
…BUT!!!
There’s more to this story! While it seemed earlier on Monday like Clarkson might be gearing up for an apology tour, things hit a sudden roadblock when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reacted to the supposed “sorry” email.
Related: Bethenny Frankel Wants You To Believe THIS Is Why She’s Obsessed With Meghan!
In a statement delivered to People on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Harry & Meghan docuseries stars claimed Clarkson’s email was ONLY sent to the Spare author! What’s more, the spokesperson shaded the s**t out of Clarkson for trying to make himself look better with a public apology to Meghan despite not reaching out and making amends with her privately!
Here is the spokesperson’s full statement (below):
“On December 25, 2022, Mr. Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. The contents of his correspondence were marked Private and Confidential. While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr. Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny. Unless each of his other pieces were also written ‘in a hurry,’ as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”
DAMN!
So which is it then?! A proper apology from the television personality to both parties (and specifically Meghan), or a confidential message to Harry alone?! It makes a big difference! As Clarkson is finding out now…
Reactions, Perezcious readers??
[Image via MEGA/WENN/Avalon]
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