# Jeremy Clarkson is a pig **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814 "2022-12-19T22:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/1 "2022-12-19T22:53:22Z")
News at 11. This past Friday, he published a column that contained this about Prince Harry’s wife Meghan (sorry I can’t remember her title and don’t care to look it up, which has nothing to do with anything except laziness): > “I hate her. Not like I hate (Scottish First Minister) Nicola Sturgeon or (serial killer) Rose West. 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.” After the furor of over 6000 complaints with a UK press watchdog organization, he said this: > “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people.” > “I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.” That’s okay mate, I’m sure it was all in fun. Do you have a daughter? Would you like someone famous to write that about her? Feel free to add your own instances that prove that Jeremy Clarkson is a pig. I’m sure there are many. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/2 "2022-12-19T23:00:53Z")
I would offer in evidence the complete run of Top Gear. Also the Amazon necro-sequel “The Grand Tour” Severe piggishness on display in every aspect of his public life IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/3 "2022-12-19T23:03:22Z")
Is there a thread explaining the Meghan Markle hate? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/4 "2022-12-19T23:08:59Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > Severe piggishness on display in every aspect of his public life IMHO. Yep. But the complaint about hating someone you don’t even know? What, did she steal some of your fame or something, Clarkson? Did she knock you off the front page? She’s wrongly hated enough. The asshat Clarkson adds nothing to to this but further proof that he is an asshat. I don’t know about the Duchess of Sussex, but Clarkson is a seriously bad person to be in the public eye. Wake up media, and quit publishing his unwanted opinions. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/5 "2022-12-19T23:18:00Z")
Clarkson is a has-been who aspires to be a “shock jock”. An admirer of Rush Limbaugh, he depends on controversy to feed his ego. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/6 "2022-12-19T23:18:14Z")
I always wondered how much of his shtick is an act, and how much is real. But if he is publishing these kind of opinions under his own name in the press, maybe its not just an act. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/7 "2022-12-19T23:33:21Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This past Friday, he published a column that contained this about Prince Harry’s wife Meghan (sorry I can’t remember her title and don’t care to look it up, which has nothing to do with anything except laziness): Just some context, he had published it in the _Sun_, here is a Reuters story about it: [https://www.reuters.com/world/uk-tv-presenter-jeremy-clarkson-horrified-meghan-column-caused-hurt-2022-12-19/](https://www.reuters.com/world/uk-tv-presenter-jeremy-clarkson-horrified-meghan-column-caused-hurt-2022-12-19/) Meghan is the Duchess of Sussex, since you mentioned her title. Harry is the Duke of same. > [@steronz](#): > > Is there a thread explaining the Meghan Markle hate? I don’t know if it is “explained” so much, but it is certainly explored, and even displayed in this thread: > [@Is "Harry and Meghan" worth my time?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-harry-and-meghan-worth-my-time/976269/): > > I’ve been poking around trying to find some comments from anyone who has actually watched one or more episodes on Netflix. Maybe my searching ability is weak. Is it worth my time to watch any of this, er, documentary? I’m not really interested in their personal relationship, but I’m always interested in the way money and power flows. I get the impression from several reviewers that this documentary series is more about the couple’s undying love and commitment to each other. Note that the hate got the thread closed and one poster warned for racism. If I can summarize… She’s American, she has a skin color that isn’t pale enough for some, and she apparently was rude to some people at one point though I haven’t seen any actual specifics and that might be rumor to cover up the jingoism/racism. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/8 "2022-12-19T23:43:02Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I always wondered how much of his shtick is an act, and how much is real. But if he is publishing these kind of opinions under his own name in the press, maybe its not just an act. Yeah, I’m never quite sure if he’s an asshole or just an aging _enfant terrible_. Whichever it is hasn’t seemed to end his career, at least not yet. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Meghan is the Duchess of Sussex, since you mentioned her title. Harry is the Duke of same. Didn’t Meghan and Harry bow out of royal obligations in order to have more privacy away from public life? With that in mind, did they cooperate in any way with a multi-part TV series all about them? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/9 "2022-12-19T23:50:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Didn’t Meghan and Harry bow out of royal obligations in order to have more privacy away from public life? Yes. [https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/secret-message-hidden-in-queens-statement/news-story/a4be63ab82e8fd5078933029d7ace33f](https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/secret-message-hidden-in-queens-statement/news-story/a4be63ab82e8fd5078933029d7ace33f) Note this though: > Harry and Meghan will still be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, however the magnitude of the significance of stripping them of their HRH status cannot be underestimated. > > Being styled as a His or Her Royal Highness is not some flowery honorific or meaningless anachronism. Those three words confer legitimate royal status. So they are still Duke and Duchess but don’t get any money from it, they are just titles. And they are no longer referred to as “His/Her Royal Highness”. They no longer represent the royal family in an official capacity. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > With that in mind, did they cooperate in any way with a multi-part TV series all about them? They most certainly did. They signed a commercial deal with Netflix to have it made. It’s not just about them, it’s their series. The first director left the project after having creative differences with the couple. Some of the criticism of the series is about how it comes across as a complimentary puff piece about the two, and how it only tells their side. (Which is no surprise since they were intimately involved with its creation.) ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/10 "2022-12-20T00:35:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If I can summarize… She’s American, she has a skin color that isn’t pale enough for some, and she apparently was rude to some people at one point though I haven’t seen any actual specifics and that might be rumor to cover up the jingoism/racism. I don’t think that’s a particularly accurate summary. The British tabloids are vicious, and they always (ALWAYS) have to have a face and a heel. Back in the day, Elizabeth could do no wrong and her sister Margaret could do nothing right; later, we had the Diana vs Sarah, Diana vs Anne, and Diana vs Camilla face-offs. Sophie Wessex received vicious criticism, but then over time the tabs morphed her portrayal into the Queen’s favorite daughter-in-law, the steady reliable one. Catherine was Waity Katie, a “common” girl with a social-climbing mother trying to push her way into the upper echelons. The wheel goes round, and Catherine became the “good” one compared to the pushy new addition, Meghan. The fact that Meghan was American I don’t think was particularly significant; her racial background played into it, certainly, but class above all mattered. Meghan was an actress from a not particularly illustrious or wealthy background, and Britain is still very class-conscious. There have been a well-publicized stream of alleged rudeness and inappropriate behavior; how many of them actually happened is open for debate, but if you haven’t seen specifics mentioned you haven’t looked. For example, there is the anecdote about Meghan at a tasting session for the caterers before her wedding; she allegedly started yelling because she thought she could taste egg in a vegan dish, prompting the Queen to tell her, “Meghan, in this family we don’t speak to people like that.” There have been multiple versions of the story surrounding the tiara Meghan wore on her wedding day; some versions make Meghan out to be greedy and demanding, trying to tell the Queen which tiara the Queen was going to lend. (Other versions make the dustup more between Harry and the Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly, ending with Harry shouting “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets!”) One version is that Meghan demanded the tiara be produced for an unscheduled appointment with her hairdresser and was nasty when Kelly wasn’t available, or didn’t make herself available, to get the chosen jewels out of the vault. The alleged bullying of staffers has been widely reported; how much of the report was due to Meghan having a different working style than the notoriously hidebound palace bureaucracy and how much was due to actual bullying is a question not likely to be answered publicly. There was the royal tour of Africa in the fall of 2019: during the tour, on what would normally be a chance to highlight the causes they’d talked up during the tour (land mines in Angola, women’s rights and education, elephants and wildlife conservation), they chose to announce Meghan was filing a lawsuit over newspaper publication of letters to her father (instead of waiting just a few more days for the tour to be over and for them to return to England and let the reporters finish up their ‘summary of the tour’ stories). This ensured that press coverage about those causes was completely overwhelmed by the coverage over the lawsuit and Meghan’s feelings. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/11 "2022-12-20T00:40:27Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > They most certainly did. They signed a commercial deal with Netflix to have it made. It’s not just about them, it’s their series. There is admittedly an odd contradiction here between them leaving the royal family and Britain because they didn’t want to be a part of that media circus, and then saying it’s okay to be a part of a media circus as long as the price is right. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/12 "2022-12-20T00:45:20Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > The alleged bullying of staffers has been widely reported; how much of the report was due to Meghan having a different working style than the notoriously hidebound palace bureaucracy and how much was due to actual bullying is a question not likely to be answered publicly. I’m not even saying that the criticism of Meghan is unwarranted. But so much of it is rumor and speculation that I haven’t formed an opinion either way. ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/13 "2022-12-20T00:46:24Z")
They want the attention and income but not the obligations. They intend to live this highest profile low profile life possible. ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/14 "2022-12-20T00:47:02Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > That’s okay mate, I’m sure it was all in fun. Do you have a daughter? He does indeed have a daughter, Emily, who has publicly distanced herself from Jesser’s article: > ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/15 "2022-12-20T01:13:06Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > They most certainly did. They signed a commercial deal with Netflix to have it made. It’s not just about them, it’s their series. The first director left the project after having creative differences with the couple. Some of the criticism of the series is about how it comes across as a complimentary puff piece about the two, and how it only tells their side. (Which is no surprise since they were intimately involved with its creation.) Well, if the family won’t actually listen to the privately, maybe publicly is their response. Plus, income. Much of their income disappeared with that “HRH” and they are still expected to maintain a certainly level of income and it’s been proven that they need security. The problem is that The Family are extremely hidebound and Meghan is thoroughly American in her approach to cut through the red tape the is put up. While all that is interesting, WhyTF does Clarkson feel the need to complain about her? And why does the media pay such a fatuous asshat to express his opinion on a subject on which he is not an authority? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/16 "2022-12-20T01:35:21Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > And why does the media pay such a fatuous asshat to express his opinion on a subject on which he is not an authority? That’s easy to answer. He gets them attention. He gets talked about. We’re talking about it. And I don’t think it really hurts the reputation of the _Sun_. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/17 "2022-12-20T01:58:47Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Yep. But the complaint about hating someone you don’t even know? What, did she steal some of your fame or something, Clarkson? Did she knock you off the front page? I believe it was along the lines of Clarkson saying: “HEY, LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK AT MEEEEEE!” That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/18 "2022-12-20T02:16:35Z")
Attention whoring is something all involved do at a high professional level. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > “HEY, LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK AT MEEEEEE!” A direct quote from Megan, Harry or Clarkson? I can’t decide. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/19 "2022-12-20T02:56:31Z")
I hate Clarkson for all the nice vehicles he has needlessly destroyed. Anything else is gravy. Or is that Pudding over there? I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814/20 "2022-12-20T03:29:04Z")
I read somewhere that the British office that deals with media complaints got more than 6000 complaints on Clarkson’s comments. They normally get about 11,000 a year from all sources. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-clarkson-is-a-pig/976814.md?page=2)