By Lucy Caulkett-
Jeremy Clarkson has been hailed as the king of controversy who can act with impunity and keep on going without his career suffering.
The poorly thought out article failed to acknowledge the seriousness of Clarkson’s own criticised article which sparked one of the biggest complaints to press watchdog Ipso last December,
Todays article in the Telegraph had a title that suggested Clarkson is immune to being fired, shamelessly exposing those who condone unacceptable conduct when committed by highly placed individuals in society.
The article calls attention to the issue of impunity for those in a position of power due to status or money, especially in the wake of the wide cover ups exposed in the police force which led to shamed former police officer David Charrick from escaping accountability for so long, despite reports being brought to their attention. The same problem seems to be present when it comes to ethics in the media.
Clarkson’s vile expression of desire for Meghan Markle to be paraded in the streets naked while people shut shame on her and throw excrements on her, was one of the lowest forms of degrading and gutter material ever published n a Uk publication.
Clarkson’s widely condemned article in The Sun Newspaper in December 2022, led to Amazon withdrawing association from him, but ITV was not prepared to give Meghan Markle the potential feel good factor that more than one person has been fired over comments made about her. The money Clarkson brings to the table was too much for ITV to resist.
The television presenter and Sun columnist was riding on wider sentiments of disapproval against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix docuseries which has rightly or wrongly upset a lot of people in the Uk. His awful conduct showed him unfit to be dishing out criticism against others, while committing the most offensive conduct himself.
Had Clarkson’s criticism of Meghan Markle been without the extremity that accompanied his words with the level of hate he explicitly stated, he may have even won a lot of supporters from an audience with large numbers of readers against the steps taken by the duke and duchess of sussex. Instead, his poor judgement led to both supporters and critics of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle being horrified by his words and condemning him altogether.
The authour of today’s article in the Telegraph, Anita Singh, said friends of Clarkson had put clips together, basically suck up to Clarkson and further massage his already inflated ego.
Clips put together by friends and former colleagues of Clarkson, who no doubt see him as a mini god because of his wealth and power, ignoring his seriously problematic character.
Singh wrote: ‘As contributors such as Jeremy Vine noted, Clarkson transformed Top Gear quite brilliantly from a worthy show about cars to an entertainment behemoth. He can be very funny, and smart – his One Show remarks were designed to show up the absurdity of BBC executives requiring guests to agree to providing “balanced” views on the political hot potato of the day.
”But he can also be a boorish bully – punching a producer because they can’t get you a steak dinner is not the same as punching Piers Morgan because he has published unpleasant things about your family. Still, he survived that one. And I don’t believe that the Sussex kerfuffle will kill his career. Clarkson’s brand of controversy is beloved by millions” Singh wrote.
Hailing Clarkson’s greatest hits, she ran a list: the Top Gear gag about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes, the declaration on The One Show that striking workers should be taken outside and shot, right back to one of his earliest car reviews in which he raved about “the first Ford I can remember that looks good enough to snap knicker elastic at 50 paces”.
”These clips were linked by friends and former colleagues of Clarkson, who regarded him as a very naughty boy with whom it is impossible to stay cross for very long. Jonathan Ross diagnosed his pal thus: “My experience of men who went to public school [Clarkson went to Repton] is that they don’t grow up in a real world way. There are so many rules in place, and such a hierarchy, that many of them stay in a permanent state of adolescence. And that is the case with Jeremy.”
‘As contributors such as Jeremy Vine noted, Clarkson transformed Top Gear quite brilliantly from a worthy show about cars to an entertainment behemoth. He can be very funny, and smart – his One Show remarks were designed to show up the absurdity of BBC executives requiring guests to agree to providing “balanced” views on the political hot potato of the day.
‘But he can also be a boorish bully – punching a producer because they can’t get you a steak dinner is not the same as punching Piers Morgan because he has published unpleasant things about your family. Still, he survived that one. And I don’t believe that the Sussex kerfuffle will kill his career. Clarkson’s brand of controversy is beloved by millions”.
This article by Singh looked more like an expression of hero worshipping a man whose conduct is often worse than that of a naughty secondary school pupil.
Many of Meghan Markle’s critics would be upset that Clarkson took the negative attention off her to himself , as he became the negative face and mouth for the British media, which most responsible members of the media will refuse to identify with.
Clarkson has indeed got an interesting television personality and is a well known face for the British public, but this should not mean he can act how he likes and get away with it every time. So much that he is celebrated for having nine lives or however many his fan of admirers feel he has.