BY JAMES SIMONS
The BBC has rejected a complaint that former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson should not have been allowed to go on a tour backed by the corporation.
Clarkson was kicked out from the BBC after a fight with a Top Gear producer early last year caused because he was not served his favorite dish. An uproar erupted in which thousands of petitions were made to re-instate the fallen television star who had on more than a few occasions gone below the belt in his conduct. Clarkson had before then been accused of racism on air on at least two occasions.
Notwithstanding, the BBC backed a world wide global tour of embarked on by Clarkson. The roadshows estimated at around £11m in revenue were re branded Clarkson Hammond and May Live.
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A complaint was made that the BBC had reneged on its promise that it would not work Clarkson in the wake of his attack on a colleague following a dispute over hot food.
However, the BBC dismissed the complaint saying that its decision was not a commercial one but made “because it did not want to disappoint tens of thousands of fans, who had paid up to £100 per ticket”,
“The decision to go ahead with the live tour was an operational one rather than an editorial one,” the BBC Trust’s complaints and appeals board said. “It was clear that BBC Worldwide had taken into account the impact on the BBC’s reputation. Trustees concluded that it was not appropriate, proportionate or cost-effective to proceed with the appeal as it did not have a reasonable prospect of success.”
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This explanation by the BBC is reasonable and makes a lot of sense. It is no fault of thousands of fans who had previously paid £100 per ticket if Clarkson subsequently messed up and got kicked out. Clarkson had an incredible amount of fans, many of whom were absolutely disappointed to see the back of him from BBC’s top gear. One of our writers said ” him and his team were the face of that show, absolutely irreplaceable. But the decision for him to go was right”. Nobody is indispensable, and it is always important for that to be made clear.
In this respect, the BBC should be applauded for its good discretion in honoring the expenses of fans despite its earlier decision not to work with Clarkson. This was good discretion on the part of the BBC.
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