Jeremy Clarkson apologised to Harry and Meghan, Amazon reportedly plan to cut ties
Amazon are reportedly planning to cut ties with Jeremy Clarkson following his recent comments about Meghan Markle, despite the star revealing he apologised to the Duchess of Sussex via email.
The Grand Tour and former Top Gear presenter caused a huge backlash last year after writing a column for The Sun in which he referenced a scene from Game Of Thrones when speaking about Markle.
“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,” he wrote.
The column drew nearly 21,000 complaints, becoming IPSO’s most-complained about article, with many celebrities speaking out against Clarkson. The presenter said in response at the time: “I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future”.
According to Variety, Prime Video are reportedly planning to part ways with Clarkson, and will not work with him beyond already-commissioned seasons of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm.
This likely puts 2024 as the final year he appears in any of their shows, with Clarkson’s Farm likely ending with its third season, and The Grand Tour finishing with four specials in 2024.
The report comes despite an Instagram post shared today (January 16), where Clarkson apologised again for the column, and says he apologised to Markle and Prince Harry: “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.”
In a further general apology for the column, he wrote: “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.”
The star said he was “in a hurry” when he filed the original column, and when he read the column later in The Sun, he realised he “messed up”.
“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.”
He added: “I’m just not sexist and I abhor violence against women. And yet I seemed to be advocating just that.
“I was mortified and so was everybody else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me.”
Clarkson also claims Amazon, as well as ITV – with whom he makes Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? – were “incandescent” over his Markle comments.
Amazon gave no further comment when contacted by NME.
The post Jeremy Clarkson apologised to Harry and Meghan, Amazon reportedly plan to cut ties appeared first on NME.
Sam Warner
NME
