Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended from BBC’s motoring show Top Gear after allegedly punching a producer for not preparing his dinner.
With Jeremy Clarkson at its head, Top Gear has been no stranger to controversy:
- October 2014 – The show’s stars and crew had to abandon filming in Argentina amid angry protests over a car number plate that appears to refer to the Falklands War.
- July 2014 – The UK’s communications regulator Ofcom ruled a Burma Special in which Jeremy Clarkson used a racial slur broke broadcasting rules. Jeremy Clarkson had used the word “slope” as an Asian man crossed a newly built bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand.
- May 2014 – Top Gear drew complaints when video footage leaked to the Daily Mirror appeared to show Jeremy Clarkson using a racist term while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. The presenter later apologized for the incident – which was never broadcast – in a video statement where he “begged forgiveness”.
- October 2012 – The BBC Trust ruled comments by Jeremy Clarkson which likened the design of a camper van to people with facial disfigurements breached disability guidelines.
- January 2012 – Indian diplomats complained about a 90-minute India special in which a car fitted with a toilet in its boot is described by Jeremy Clarkson as “perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots.”
- February 2011 – The BBC apologized to Mexico after Jeremy Clarkson and his co-hosts characterized Mexicans as “lazy” and “feckless”. [youtube k3FCJN4ORHM 650]
