After a month of controversy surrounding a piece Jeremy Clarkson published in The Sun regarding Meghan Markle, it appears Amazon will be cutting ties with the popular host of The Grand Tour and more.
According to Variety, Amazon will not produce any additional episodes of the automotive-centric The Grand Tour or docuseries Clarkson’s Farm past those that have already been greenlit. Clarkson’s Farm and The Grand Tour will end, it seems, in this year and in 2024, respectively.
The issue stems from a December 16th piece Clarkson penned, in which he wrote, in part: “I hate [Meghan Markle]…I hate her on a cellular level…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.” (This visual was in reference to a Game of Thrones episode.) Clarkson maintains he is not sexist, although that’s how his remarks read.
Jeremy Clarkson, who is no stranger to questionable behavior, posted a lengthy apology on his Instagram on Monday. “One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologise for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it’s never enough for the people who called for it in the first place.So I’m going to try and buck the trend this morning with an apology for the things I said in a Sun column recently about Meghan Markle….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.”
Jeremy Clarkson went on to put some of the blame on him not having a proofreader on the day the piece was published and said the “small rumble” continued to grow louder, resulting in more than 20,000 complaints directed at both Clarkson and The Sun.
Jeremy Clarkson’s apology tour included both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. “I e-mailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too. 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.”
What do you think of Amazon parting ways with Jeremy Clarkson? Should Clarkson still have his jobs? Let us know your take in the comments section below.