As I spend more and more time reading UK gossip and news stories, I have to admit that I get so jealous of all of the Brit-slang and colloquialisms. In Britain, people aren’t fired, they’re “sacked.” Jeremy Clarkson wasn’t involved in an incident or assault, he was part of a “fracas.” And that’s where we are now. Following a violent fracas several weeks ago – which we now know was a violent temper tantrum about steak – Clarkson will be sacked from the BBC’s Top Gear. He’s being sacked because of the violent altercation with a producer, not because Clarkson has a history of making racist and neo-colonialist remarks on air.
Jeremy Clarkson’s contract will not be renewed after the Top Gear presenter was involved in a 30-second physical assault on a producer, the BBC’s internal inquiry will report on Wednesday. BBC director general Tony Hall is understood to have come to the conclusion that he has “little alternative” but to end Clarkson’s BBC career, 16 days after he was suspended following a “fracas” with a member of the Top Gear production team.
A BBC investigation led by BBC Scotland boss Ken MacQuarrie is thought to have found that Clarkson engaged Oisin Tymon in a 30-second physical assault after a 20-minute verbal tirade. Hall is a Top Gear fan and has previously stood by the presenter following a string of controversies, including an incident last year when he appeared to mumble the N-word in a Top Gear out-take. The BBC also hugely values the audience that Clarkson and the BBC2 programme – regularly watched by more than 5 million viewers – brings to the BBC.
But a source close to the inquiry said: “There can’t be one rule for talent and one rule for ordinary human beings.”
Following the findings of the MacQuarrie inquiry, and the fact that Clarkson was put on a final warning after the N-word controversy last year, a source said Hall had “little alternative” but to let Clarkson go. Clarkson’s contract with the BBC was due to expire at the end of March.
Clarkson tweeted early on Wednesday: “Just to keep everyone up to date, I haven’t heard a thing.”
The Guardian goes on to say that Richard Hammond and James May’s futures with Top Gear are in question as well, and that their contracts will probably not be renewed. The BBC is likely looking to revamp the show completely. Clarkson’s contract expires at the end of March, so they probably won’t “sack” him formally, they’ll just refuse to lift his suspension for the next week and his contract won’t be renewed. And in case you are a Clarkson super-fan, no worries. I’m sure that some other British, American, Canadian or Australian network will pick him up.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Slightly more shocked that noted petrolhead Clarkson is actually riding a bicycle. ha
That was exactly my reaction too! Never thought I’d see Jeremy Clarkson on a push bike!
About fecking time.
Too fecking right!
IMO – we need to make the men in the highest positions, visibly responsible for their mistakes -in order to show other men, that violence (bullying, violence against women, pedophilia, rape, and so forth) is NEVER acceptable. We need to be vigorous in the application of the rule of law, as well as creating new laws deemed necessary, to stop this kind of crime.
@ Wolfpup +1000
Are we all fecking Irish?
I am! Serves him fecking right.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bully. When you assault somebody in a work situation, you do not get to keep your job.
I was just reading that in polls, 50% of people think he should be kept on. I can’t get my head around it: he punched an innocent adult man for bringing him a plate of cold cuts instead of a steak and chips…..he screamed at him for 20 minutes…the guy had to go to A and E…..AND FIFTY PER CENT OF PEOPLE THINK HE SHOULD NOT BE SACKED???
Plenty of people think a punch in the head is a natural consequence of failing to feed the Clarkson hot meat. (Not a euphemism, but now my imagination is entertaining me.)
And plenty of people are bragging all over Twitter about how they’re going to beat the crap over “that c–t” who spoiled everything for Clarkson.
50% of people *who responded to the poll*.
The ones who want their precious, precious TV show to go on are probably trying very hard to present their opinion anywhere and everywhere, because there’s really no defending this man’s actions. Of course if you split your coworker’s lip and shriek curse words at him for 20 minutes you’re going to get fired.
The thing that gets me is the victim apparently didn’t complain to the BBC, didn’t go to police, and has been with Top Gear for a decade. Those facts break my heart; instead of demanding justice, the victim acted like a battered spouse who can’t figure out how to leave his abuser. He just took himself to the emergency room and figured he — not Clarkson — was fired.
Good, about time – he’s an awful man!
Made my day, can’t stand this misogynistic, racist, anachronistic twerp and will be very glad to see the back of him.
I love Top Gear. This actually upsets me greatly. He’s a douche, but that’s sort of his whole purpose on the show. He’s to cars, what Joan Rivers was to red carpets.
But Joan Rivers was fired multiple times and she never hit anyone.
Joan Rivers never had that internatioal audience. like it or not he makes money and thats what the channels want.
His sacking is not yet confirmed…
But yeah, I really like the show too, and while Jeremy did need sacking (no excuses, you can’t behave like that at work), I can see him, May and Hammond all exiting the BBC and taking up an offer with eg. Sky or ITV to create ‘Top Gear’ under a new name.
It’s very unlikely that May and Hammond will have any interest in staying on with the BBC without Jeremy.
Sacking of the wanker now confirmed. We get “sacked” in Australia, too.
The show was entertaining (it’s a favorite of the husband) but after 20 seasons, I’m not beat up over it ending. Clarkson deserves whatever’s coming to him. Though I pity whomever the BBC taps to revamp the show because that’s just not going to go well – hopefully they’ll at least be paid a lot.
Good. I mean he, May, and Hammond are super entertaining-but he’s a trainwreck and you can’t punch someone at your work. Period
The car fan in me is bummed out though. Countdown til they get picked up on ITV or Sky begins in 3…2….1..
Sky has just said they aren’t going to take him so maybe ITV will. My sons are gutted but they both said he was a prat who deserved it. They will watch it if it moves. They don’t want Stephen Fry to take over which was mentioned this morning that he could be up for contention.
Hoo-freaking-ray.
And for American readers, do look up the Chipping Norton Set (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipping_Norton_set).
Quite how this horrible man masquerades as “of the people” is utterly beyond me. He’s chummy with the Murdochs, a bastion of the bloody establishment, a throwback to the days of women in the kitchen, no dogs, no blacks, no Irish notices in windows, and everything that Angry Old White Men rail against – ie things getting better for anyone except them.
No amount of entertaining petrolhead shows makes up for that.
So there. (Oops, I think I ranted. Sorry.)
No. You officially won all my love for your comment.
A rant? I took that as a well-reasoned, balanced statement but then again, my car is in the shop and I’m a bit out of it right now
A statement of fact is not a rant and even if it is a bit of a rant – which it is not – you are right.
I watched a bit of Top Gear before I knew anything about it, and found it entertaining (the first [staged] caravanning episode was funny), but I was also unsettled a little bit though I couldn’t put my finger on why. I figured it out though when I watched Stewart Lee’s classic rant against the three presenters of Top Gear–they’re just terrible cruel people and/or enablers of cruel people. The world has enough callousness and cruelty in it, I don’t need to subtly poison my mind by being entertained by people who in another time and place would probably have been monstrous (just imagine Clarkson as an official in the times of British colonialism).
Egg-freaking-zactly. Not just a racist misogynist bastard, but a raging hypocrite too. Oh and his flagrant disregard for the environment disgusts me too. What a d**k.
Chipping Norton… and Golliwogs!
I actually find the Word “fired” funnier than” sacked”
In the UK, you can also “get the boot”.
and also told to ‘get on yer bike’ and then you are ‘out on your ear’ – which is bloody bizarre when you see it written down…
Ha. Yes!
Ok, is “laid off” the same as “redundant”? And do Americans get payments when they are laid off?
Here, you can be “walked off”, which is also appropriate for Top Gear
Sacked, fracus, fecking. Such great words.
We also say someone got canned when they’re fired.
In Canada you can be “laid off”, which is different than being fired. Mostly in the sense that you can claim Employment Insurance if you are laid off (usually due to “lack of work”), whereas if you are fired, you cannot claim EI.
Or, they got drop kicked out the front door.
@Sixer, yes, “laid off” and “redundant” are the same. We get unemployment if laid off but the amounts vary by state. We don’t get it if we quit or are fired, unless the termination was for incompetence as opposed to not doing the job.
I worked in HR for many years and some of the corporate bafflegab for getting terminated are ridiculous:
– dehired
– decruited
– outplaced
and my all-time favourite…involuntary separation.
Of those, decruited is my favourite!
“involuntary separation” that made me laugh out loud – cheers!
Jaded, bafflegab was my favorite.
INVOLUNTARY SEPARATION is everything
hahaha – is that the #conscious uncoupling of the employment world?
He got the Tijuana.
*The Tijuana Brass. The ass.
He is am a-hole, but je is Top Gear. I doubt revamping the show will work.
And if Hammond and May go too, some.other network will pick them up and do a similar show. This is a big loss for the BBC. He was rightfully sacked, but it’s still a loss.
Kinda thinking there is a whole other reason that Top Gear will work…
I coulda sworn I read that Top Gear is Clarkson’s intellectual property.
As in – they can’t really ~fire~ this idiot, they can’t really revamp the show. The only option is to bend to the inevitable at last and end it because they can’t really go on without him for reasons bigger then missing a personality.
The whole ‘laddiness’ of the show made me twitch (I hate frat-boy comedies too) but I DID at least get engaged enough it was something I could watch with my husband and over time DID absorb some factual car info, so for that I’m grateful. Liked Hammond and James, but now it’s time to just let this door close hopefully. It’s an end to an era – but sometimes the best thing that happens to a system is the asteroid finally knocks out the dinosaurs of the past and lets new things begin to take the helm.
I believe he sold off his financial interests in the show a few years ago.
I love Hammond (my pet hamsters have been named after him over the past few years) but Clarkson was just abrasive. I got that was his whole point and “luckily” I ended up watching most of TG on BBC America where the show was cut down to smooth over his…antics.
I love little bitty Hammond, too! My husband and I will occasionally watch an episode on BBC America, and I had no idea that the show was edited to excise Clarkson’s craziness. I feel bad for his co-stars. It was probably not easy or pleasant to have to work with Clarkson for so many years, and their reward now is…unemployment.
I think their reward was the money they got. I can’t see that they were putting up with him all these years in the hope of getting some sort of long-service award. If they’re unemployed now, they should really have had something lined up. Basically, they condoned him and his actions by continuing to work with him, I have very little sympathy.
Hammond and May are probably pretty well off. Each has another show that stars just them so I’m sure they’ll be just fine.
“I ended up watching most of TG on BBC America where the show was cut down to smooth over his…antics.”
WHAT?…I, like “a cut above”, had NO idea that the BBC America-aired version edited any of his shtick. I sometimes would cringe at stuff he would say that WAS aired, I can’t imagine what they cut!
They edited for the sake of commercials and for jokes that would be considered “offensive” or “go over American audiences’ heads” e.g. most of his Peirs Morgan digs or digs at the PM. The interviews were greatly shortened as well and some of the cuts (the Ewan McGregor interview is one comes to mind) are glaring. Like Clarkson moves chairs, Ewan is cut off mid sentence, and the like.
Good riddance. The episodes I’ve watched were entertaining but not enough to support this ass keeping his cushiony job. So tired of rewarding ass bags for horrible abusive ad racist behavior.
Has anyone seen these weird protests going around on social media? ‘fight against political correctness, and sign our petition to keep Clarkson on air’. I’m glad most of the comments have been like “um he put someone in hospital wtf?”.
Some of these people need to learn that assault and battery is not related to political correctness.
That’s very British, to react against ‘political correctness’ and have an attitude that excludes everyone and everything but your own interests. There are lots of open minded people here and things are improving, but institutionalised small-mindedness is still alive and well as JC’s fans have proven. Funny considering he couldn’t give a crap about any of them as individuals, but I suspect most of them would get off on being treated like sh*t by him.
Ha! That is hilarious – most would get off being treated like shit by him.
Yes, I’ve noticed the vocal support of racism, homophobia, mysogyny, and the like. Some of them don’t want to let go of the hating. The upper echelon especially seem to cling to their snobbery and false sense of superiority. If they let it go, who are they really? When the only thing they really have to feel better about themselves is entitlement, they aren’t going to let it go without a fight otherwise they are just a regular joe and they can’t have that.
I read yesterday about a pedophilia ring being busted in England that included some royals. There were alot of posts about getting rid of the royal family for good. I have never understood how a country can be a parliamentary democracy but have a constitutional monarchy. What good could possibly come from any type of monarchy? Even if a monarchy is maintained for historical purposes or even just nastalgia, isn’t that just asking for elitism? Somebody needs to explain this to me.
@ JenniferJustice – somebody needs to explain it to me as well! It all goes way back to the middle of the 17th century when, after a protracted and bloody civil war and a religious dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell, the British aristocracy (the 1% who basically owned 100% of everything) reinstated Charles II as Monarch. However, they did not reinstate him with the absolute power (or right of Kings that his father Charles I had – and lost his head over) but made Charles II answerable to parliament by essentially hanging onto the money. We ended up continuing to have a Monarchy as figureheads of the country while at the same time the Parliament ran the country, initially for the very few who owned all the lands, cash etc and eventually enfranchising the non-landowners and even (gasp) women (!) This is massively simplified (for the sake of space) but it does mean even now we have this bizarre system that still suits the powerful (old money types). There is a movement in Britain that campaigns for a Republic, called republic.org.uk, it’s an interesting read.
Since when is, “Don’t hit your coworkers!” considered to be political correctness? I’m fairly certain that’s been a workplace standard for as long as there have been workplaces, at least in fields that other than boxing.
It’s just *headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*.
This is the aspect of it all that really gets to me.
There is this attitude of not wanting middle class, bossy, politically correct liberals to come along and take away all the fun from the working classes (ie the white men among the working classes). You know – the mocking of Johnny Foreigner, the lads down the pub culture, the obnoxious football songs, etc etc.
It’s slightly different in the US but I can see from reading here that there are all sorts of similar debates (often on race, also on women, but similar types of discussions about bossy liberals ruining everything). So I’m sure you guys here can kinda recognise it.
And somehow, Clarkson has managed to insinuate himself into this conversation. As if HE is some kind of representative of the “hard pressed” working class man of Britain. But he isn’t! He’s posh establishment, through and through. And people just can’t see it. It drives me mad.
You’re right, Sixer, we have the exact same thing in the US, just with slightly different cultural markers. Here I’d say it’s more redneck good ole boy culture on one hand and frat boy antics on the other, and the area where they cross over with each other, but in both cases it’s often a veiled defense of sexism, racism, and xenophobia. And, as with Clarkson, a lot of the men who insert themselves into these debates tend to be outsiders who’ve conveniently aligned themselves with people who will defend them. Hell, look at Donald Trump (or don’t).
EXACTLY. EXACTLY.
It makes me want to weep. Really.
Same thing happens here, Sixer, and results in construction workers thinking boarding school, Ivy League educated, trust fund baby sons of Senators and Presidents like George W Bush, who never held an actual job are one of them and will protect their interests
That’s the one. These fools think Clarkson is on their side when the truth is anything but. Clarkson is on the side of very rich, very privileged people, of whom he is one. He is not a spokesman or advocate for the proles.
So it doesn’t really matter whether they are being done down by the wimlins and the minorities, as they think they are, or by a predatory privileged elite, as I think they are. Either way, Clarkson is emphatically not going in to bat for them.
Exactly. He freaking punched a co-worker. How could they NOT discipline him?
Horrible man, kudos to the BBC for not cowing to the ignorant million+ people who petitioned for him.
On the one hand, Jeremy Clarkson has been pushing his luck for years and it finally caught up with him. As much as I love the show, it is good that someone is holding him accountable finally.
On the other hand, it is kind of laughable that the BBC thinks the show has any chance of success under different hosts. Those three ARE the show and I doubt anyone new could garner anywhere near the audience.
Agree. They can plough ahead with a new presenting team but it will not be the Top Gear that fans of the show love, want or will watch.
They’ve taken a stand regardless of how it will affect the show. Enough is enough with this dink. I just wish they took the stand on his racist and misogynist remarks and it didn’t take punching out a producer to get him sacked.
Yeah without the hosts, the ship has sailed. Just look at American Top Gear. Same formula, just replaced with older Bro-Dudes. And boy did it bomb.
I think top gear is great (well, most of it) and the guys work together really well, but yes, he should go. If he really hit his producer then he should have been sacked on the spot. As you would in a normal job. I don’t care how much money he brings to bbc and how great he is doing that’s simply unacceptable. Plus – no one is irreplaceable….
I don’t care about Jezza (Clarkson), what about May and Hammond?!??! Particularly Hammond, as he seemed to be the nicest and funniest of the trio. My God…….who’s going to feed The Stig?!?
And on that bombshell…
Top Gear looks like it had an unlimited budget for a tv show and was about the best job you could get. The travel, the super cars, meeting celebs, the laughs. Well, that’s what it looked like. We caught up on back episodes of TG during the summer reruns at home in LA and got addicted. We’ll miss Jezza, Hamster and Captain Slow very much. And the Stig.
BBC has just confirmed it – he’s gone.
The trolls are loose on their site flaming them for it – saying that he only ‘lost his temper with someone who wasn’t doing their job’. WTAF – i just can’t. The man is a nasty bully who assaulted a colleague because he was drunk and couldn’t get what he wanted. His ‘supporters’ are clearly unpleasant people if they think that sort of behaviour is acceptable.
Entertaining though as Jezza might’ve been when Top Gear was still fresh, I always liked James May and Richard Hammond a lot more. I like May’s phlegmatic persona and Hammond’s… well, three words: Vincent Black Shadow (was it)?
I don’t feel bad for Clarkson’s departure. At all.
The show is still really great. It has it’s good and bad episodes every series/season.
I think many don’t understand some episodes arent all comedy and are more focused on the actual cars and don’t like that. Or because they don’t lik Clarkson they don’t like Top Gear. I’m not a gear head, but really enjoy the show having viewed it without a bias either way.
I love the show. And I think Clarkson is an awful man. There’s also no show without him. Episodes where Clarkson hasn’t been there are some of the worst. And many of the Spinoff (mud, seat , and gears) or other nations version of Top Gear just aren’t that good and are riding the coat tails of the UK’s original TG.
Ultimately, they might be happy not to deal with JC, but it will hit their profits and that counts more in that setting as we’ve seen numerous times. Morality is cast aside when there’s profit to be had.
Top gear is not for those easily offended, or those looking to be offended.
Jimmy Savile…that’s not a big deal. Clarkson punching someone apparently is.
I hope they get picked up by Netflix and so can escape the PC brigade.
And yes, if someone didn’t have dinner for me and my crew after a day’s filming I’d punch them too.
“…if someone didn’t have dinner for me and my crew after a day’s filming I’d punch them too. (sic)”
{praying to never be one of your co-workers}*
PoliteTeaSipper doesn’t sound especially polite to me…
Ah, yes, that argument again. Horrible people allowed some of the worst crimes possible to happen, therefore, no one in media should ever be punished for their behavior again. If we held to that standard in every area of life, nothing would ever improve.
I’m sure someone will pick him up. I hope it’s not Netflix, as I’d rather not have my subscription supporting him.
Polite Tea Sipper — You are actually proving why Savile was allowed to carry on abusing children and women: his victims thought no one would believe them b/c the public were blinded by adoration for his public persona. The fact that the BBC has dismissed Jezza is proof positive that they have corrected the institutional limitations that played into Savile’s impunity.
Clarkson didn’t get his din-dins b/c he was three hours late, having spent the evening drinking in a pub while his helicopter pilot and the inn’s chef hung around for hours before giving up. The crew members who are not drunks, did get fed.
Xavi – exactly. People just want to talk about how they love his “honesty” and he caused the whole damn thing himself. HE was late. If he was at the pub, pick up some pub food. If you want to be a drunk arsehole, do it on your own time.
And that could land you in jail, politeteasipper. Violence is never acceptable and has nothing to do with political correctness
@politeteasipper: I’m sure that’ll be great for your boss to hear that assault is now on the table for when you screw up at work.
Boo boy, don’t even know what to say to someone who actually believes this.
But, I did want to add something that contradicts the timeline of events that you are using to excuse Clarkson’s inappropriate and illegal behavior. Basically, the account that I read stated that the producer had arranged for the hotel that they were staying at to provide Clarkson (and I imagine the other presenters) with a hot meal once they returned from filming. Clarkson decided to get a few drinks at a pub near to where they filming and delayed the return to the hotel for a couple of hours. The hotel chef refused to stay overtime to wait for his nibs to return (altho I think they offered them cold platters). So basically Clarkson has an epic temper tantrum, like an over tired, cranky baby, because he missed his hot din din, which was his fault anyway. That version of events rings true to me. I can certainly imagine alcohol playing a role in the escalation, but it’s not an excuse. Frankly he could stand to skip a meal or two anyway.
My favorite comment that I read elsewhere about this whole imbroglio was someone stating that the most shocking thing that they learned from all this is that Clarkson is only 54, followed by, “wow, being an epic arsehole really ages a person!”
I, for one, hope he is NOT picked up by another show. How would he suffer at all if that happened? The only thing elitists care about is money, so thinning out their wallet is the only way to punish them. He won’t go broke, but he needs to make do with only what he has for a while. Perhaps in time, if he lives long enough, he’ll be forced to auction off his assetts. Would love to see this fascist pig have to liquidate.
The other channels are already lining up to sign up all three ex-Top Gear presenters (they come as a package according to James May).
There’s little denying that the guy is an arse, and this would have happened eventually anyway–even if he’d gotten his steak that night, he’d eventually have popped off about something else equally ridiculous. It had an air of inevitability. Ah, well. James May is my favourite anyway, and I enjoy his programmes more.
I think Clarkson actually served an important purpose: he was a living, breathing example of really obnoxious behavior. For all the folks who say “oh, it’s not really that bad,” you could point to Clarkson and say, “Yeah, actually, it is, and this is what it looks like.” Sort of a three-dimensional version of A Modest Proposal.
I’m not at all sure he actually believes in at least some of the things he said–his job was to be appalling, and he did it really well. I’m going to miss him, and his counterweights May and Hammond. You have to admit, one thing Top Gear never was, was bland.
So who should replace him?
Well, ‘replacement’ would only apply if May and Hammond were still on board but they’ve both made it clear that they and Jeremy come as a package, so the BBC will have to start over. And starting over means creating a whole new ‘Top Gear’.
So really, it’s not ‘replacements’, it’s totally new presenters for a whole new look, new feel ‘Top Gear’ show.
Whether they can do that successfully remains to be seen.
In the case I reckon they’ll start another popular car show on another network. Seems like a no brainer.
Shesh that guy has an enormous head! Like a living Mr. Potato Head.
So why wasn’t he arrested?