19 December 2022 | Rishi Sunak was asked about the comments Jeremy Clarkson made in a newspaper column about the Duchess of Sussex. Video / AP
British broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson has apologised publicly and personally to Meghan Markle after a controversial newspaper column drew complaints and outrage - but the move is unlikely to stop Amazon Prime from dropping him as a presenter.
Clarkson has revealed he sent an email apology to Markle and Prince Harry on Christmas Day, weeks after he wrote in The Sun that he had dreamed of the Duchess being paraded through British towns naked while crowds hurl excrement and chant “shame”.
Entertainment industry magazine Variety reported Amazon, currently home to Clarkson’s Farm and The Grand Tour, won’t be working with Clarkson beyond seasons that have already been commissioned.
This means that the notorious Top Gear presenter likely won’t be appearing in any new shows on Prime Video beyond 2024.
Prime Video declined to comment to Variety on the story.
In a long statement posted on his Instagram early on Tuesday (NZT), Clarkson said he was sorry “All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head” and said ITV and Amazon were “incandescent” over the column.
Jeremy Clarkson stars in Clarkson's Farm, streaming on Amazon Prime. Photo / File
Clarkson emailed Harry and Meghan on Christmas Day to apologise, he said.
“I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then on Christmas morning, I emailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too.
The column drew 17,500 complaints, making it the most complained-about article in the press regulator’s history.
The row escalated again last week, when Prince Harry told ITV in an interview that the “cruel” article incited violence against women and said the monarchy’s silence on the matter was “deafening”.
Clarkson previously said he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt” and vowed to “be more careful in future”, asking The Sun to remove the column.
He wrote on Instagram: “Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed Send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the landmine exploded.
“I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then, on Christmas morning, 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.
“Over the last 30 years, I have written very nearly 5,000 newspaper and magazine columns, so it was inevitable that, one day, I’d do a Harry Kane and sky one of the damn things. Which is what happened with the piece about Meghan.”
Clarkson admitted he “felt sick” when he read his column for the first time and the 62-year-old broadcaster thinks he made the situation worse for himself for failing to add context to his remarks, which referenced a scene from Game of Thrones.
He said: “It was a slow rumble to start with, and I ignored it. But then the rumble got louder. So I picked up a copy of The Sun to see what all the fuss was about.
“We’ve all been there, I guess. In that precise moment when we suddenly realise we’ve completely messed up. You are sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head pounds. And you feel sick. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Had I really said that? It was horrible.
Jeremy Clarkson has published his support for Piers Morgan after he exited his TV gig following an on-air argument about Meghan Markle. Photo / Getty Images
“I knew what had happened straight away. I’d been thinking of a scene in Game Of Thrones, but I’d forgotten to mention this. So it looked like I was actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan’s head. I was very angry with myself because in all those controversial days on Top Gear, when I was accused of all sorts of things, it was very rarely sexism.
“We never did ‘women can’t park’ gags for instance. Or suggested that powerful cars were only for men. And I was thrilled when Jodie Kidd and Ellen MacArthur set fastest-ever laps in our reasonably-priced car. I’m just not sexist and I abhor violence against women. And yet I seemed to be advocating just that.
“I was mortified and so was everyone else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me.”
