MPs have launched a scathing assault on Grand Tour and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson over a hyperbole-laden article he penned discussing Meghan Markle.
Furious elected representatives within the United Kingdom have launched a political assault against famed car and farming show presenter Jeremy Clarkson after the TV funnyman penned an article criticising Meghan Markle.
The Sun, which originally published the article, has since pulled it from its website, with the UK’s Independent Press Standards Organisation watchdog now reporting that it is the most officially complained about article ever.
According to a report by The Telegraph, a total of 65 MPs led by Tory Party politician and Women and Equalities Committee chair Caroline Nokes have signed a letter condemning the article, which they describe as being “hateful” and “misogynistic”.
Many have taken issue with Clarkson for comparing Meghan to serial killer Rose West, before suggesting that 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”, a reference to a scene in HBO’s Game of Thrones adaptation.
What is not frequently referenced are the other comedic comments Clarkson makes throughout the piece, such as his suggestion that Bambi will end up being banned from schools because it is offensive to vegans, and that a story about the husband of a police officer being discovered to be a drug dealer making him laugh so hard his “spleen came out”.
“Hateful articles like the one written by Mr Clarkson do not exist in a vacuum, and directly contribute to this unacceptable climate of hatred and violence,” the letter remarked, making no reference to the obviously over-the-top and borderline absurdist nature of the original piece.
“We are deeply concerned about the role modelling being promoted to young men and boys, that they can verbally attack women without a consequence or that it is okay to use violent language to address a woman that you might disagree with,” it continued.
“…we now demand action is taken against Mr Clarkson and an unreserved apology is issued to Ms Markle immediately,” it concluded.
The furore is perhaps to be expected. Clarkson is one of Britain’s most controversial characters, who seems to neatly split the nation down the love/hate line, and he was writing about another one of Britain’s most controversial characters in his trademark bombastic style. Hurt feelings seem inevitable in such a combination.
Nokes has been approached for comment.
Other parts of the British media establishment are also up in arms over the article, with one BBC presenter going so far as to describe it as a “hate crime” that Clarkson should be thrown in jail for.
Meanwhile, the Independent Press Standards Organisation has reportedly stated that the article has resulted in it receiving 17,500 complaints as of Tuesday morning.
Not only does this make the apparently tongue-in-cheek opinion piece the most complained about article in the watchdog’s history, the body says that it has now received more complaints about Clarkson’s article than it received in total the previous year.
According to the group, it received a grand total of 14,355 press complaints last year, significantly fewer than the number of complaints it has received about the article published in The Sun.
Nevertheless, while Independent Press Standards Organisation says that the volume of complaints will mean any action on the article will take longer than usual to implement, it says that it will follow the “usual processes” for examining complaints in relation to the piece.