Jeremy Clarkson, the hugely popular host of the car program Top Gear who relishes the politically incorrect, was suspended by the BBC yesterday after a mysterious “fracas” with a producer.
Clarkson, 54, is given to making impolite comments about foreigners and then apologizing. Even though Top Gear attracts strong ratings, the BBC had put him on a “final warning” last year for his behavior after he used a racist word during filming.
At the time, Clarkson said, somewhat jokingly, that the BBC had told him he would be fired if he made “one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time.”
Top Gear, which began in 2002 as a straightforward program that evaluated cars, has become a phenomenon, sometimes described as the world’s most-popular factual television program. About 350 million viewers in 170 countries watch it each week.
That makes it an important source of revenue for the BBC and for Clarkson, who is paid about $1.5 million a year to be host of the show.
The BBC announced his suspension late yesterday “following a fracas” with a producer and “ pending an investigation.”
The BBC provided no further details.
The show will not be broadcast as scheduled on Sunday.
In October, Clarkson and his crew had to flee Argentina after allegedly being attacked by local residents in an incident over a license plate. Clarkson was driving a car with the plate number H982 FLK, which was understood to be a reference to Britain’s military victory over Argentina in the Falklands War of 1982. - The Columbus Dispatch
