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Known for his controversial comments, which have also provoked diplomatic protests in the past, British TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson is once again at the center of controversy.
This time it was for a column she signed on to the British tabloid The sun last Friday where she talked about how she feels mEghan Marklewife of Prince Harry.
In it, he stated that the “I hated with each cell (at the cellular level)“ and even more than a notorious British serial killer and said, in reference to the series “Game of Thrones”, that he would like to see her beaten in public.
“Who paraded naked through the streets of every city in Britain as crowds shouted ‘Shame on you!’ and throw a lot of excrement at him,” Clarkson wrote in her text.
The column caused widespread outrage in the UK among the public and some media outlets.
LBC radio host James O’Brien called Clarkson’s words “utterly disgusting”, while journalist Leona O’Neill said “vile comments like this are never okay, they are not black humor or jokes“.
“They are sick and disgusting and should never have been printed in a newspaper,” O’Neill wrote on Twitter.
The presenter’s daughter, communicator Emily Clarkson, also expressed her refusal.
The UK press regulator hippo, I had received until this Monday more than 12,000 public complaints. The newspaper The sun removed the column from its website, while Clarkson released what it called “a tentative apology”.
In 2011, when Clarkson was working for the BBC, the BBC had to apologize after the Top Gear presenter said he the mexicans son “lazy, irresponsible, flatulent and overweight”.
And in 2014 he sparked a controversy in Argentina for driving around the country in a car with a license plate that appeared to refer to the Malvinas/Falklands War.
Over the years Clarkson has been heavily criticized for his “racist” comments.
What did he say about Markle?
Clarkson’s comments about the Duchess of Sussex were posted a day after part two of the documentary series premiered on Netflix. Harry and Meghan.
In it, the couple talks the complicated relation what they had with the British media before and after the wedding, mostly because of the impact the coverage they received had on their lives and mental health.
Markle In the series he assures that the “hate messages” on social networks against him made him fear for his life and even made him have suicidal thoughts.
In his column on The sunJeremy Clarkson wrote: “I can’t sleep at night as I lie there gnashing my teeth and dreaming of the day she [Markle] she will parade naked through the streets of every city in Britain, as crowds shout ‘Shame on you!’ and they throw piles of excrement into it.”
“Everyone my age feels the same way,” she added.
“But what drives me crazy is that young people, especially girls, think it is fresh. They think she was a prisoner at Buckingham Palace, forced to talk only about needlework and kittens.”
Elsewhere in the text, Clarkson compared his hatred of Markle to his hatred of her. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeonor the serial killer West Rose.
“Meghan, though, is a different story. I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her with every cell.”
West was a serial killer who, along with her husband Fred, murdered at least 12 girls over the age of 20 in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.
The rejection of his words
Following numerous criticisms over the weekend, Clarkson posted a message on Twitter calling his reference to the ‘Game of Thrones’ scene “clumsy,” which, he said, “resonated with a lot of people.”
“I am horrified that I have caused so much damage and will be more careful in the future,” he added.
Ipso told the BBC that the complaints – which were nearly equal to those received in all of 2021 (14,355) against all outlets – were being assessed according to their standard procedure.
On Sunday, Clarkson’s daughter herself said: “I want to make this very clear I object to everything my father wrote about Meghan Markle”.
“My views are and have always been clear when it comes to misogyny, harassment and the treatment of women by the media,” wrote Emily Clarkson, a well-known podcast host in the UK.
The Scottish prime minister told the BBC he felt “pity” for the presenter.
“I can’t imagine what it must be like to be so consumed and skewed with hatred against other people, and, in your case it seems, against women in particular, that you end up writing a vile and toxic slur,” said Nicola Storione.
“The freedom of expression it’s really important and one of the values we all cherish. But all of us, in exercising these important rights, we must behave with a certain degree of responsibility“.