It doesn’t matter that the BBC bigwigs are probably rubbing their hands in glee.
He sent someone to casualty over not getting the dinner he wanted.
Pay attention.
He SENT someone to HOSPITAL because he didn’t get the dinner he wanted.
Oh, maybe it was only a scuffle, oh, he’s under sooo much stress, I really like Top Gear. Waah, waah, waah.
People are defending this!
Again, he is a dick.
I enjoyed Clarkson, I thought that he was exaggerating to entertain.
I was wrong, he is not a decent human being.
He cheated on his wife. (none of my business)
He tried to get a super injunction to hide his extra-marital. (I laughed, Streisand effect)
He punched Piers Morgan. (Okay)
He did the many verbal gaffes. (I thought racist, started to not watch him)
Now, he can fuck right off.
…where are all these conspiracy theories coming from?
I’m not sure what isn’t clear to you. We certainly know a bit more than “something happened.” Clarkson verbally and physically assaulted another employee. Even in your “imaginings” you concede this. That is enough to get you walked off almost any other job. And that is simply what happened here.
From the investigation summary:
There is no evidence of a “two way” shouting match. There is no evidence that Tymon did anything at all other than listen to the verbal abuse and then got physically attacked. So your “imaginings” are simply “imaginings”: and don’t seem to bear any relation to what actually happened.
Tangentially related. In this story, James May calls Jeremy Clarkson a “kb." I give up. What does "kb” stand for? God, I hate it when respectable newspapers do this shit.
As much as I hate the decisión it was probably the correct thing to do. I’m as big a TG fan as you can have but I’d have probably done the same thing.
I’m 100% sure that James and Richard won’t go on with TG or anything similar at BBC without Jezza. Maybe they’ll continue their other projects or, fingers crossed, a similar Project somewhere else.
Presumably, a
knob.
(Wait, do I need to censor that? I guess so, if the papers are bleeping it.)
Which is Brit-speak for
penis.
Huh, it’s not like the Indie to censor swearwords. A knob (penis) is basically equivalent to the US asshole, but can be used in a slightly affectionate way. It’s more contemporary UK synonym is bellend.
Oh, I’m familiar with the word “knob.” I was just staring and staring at it, and it didn’t come to me. Probably because the “k**b” had me searching for words beginning with a hard “k” sound instead of an “n.” It’s also not a word I would have thought would be censored.
The beeb definitely painted themselves into a corner with this gaffe, perhaps next time they will keep HR locked up.
What I would have done was to call in the victim and explain that he is right according to the law and company standards, but top gear brings in a shit ton of money, thus its strongly suggested that he take one for the team and buck up.
Beeb releases statement saying something happened, but not clear enough to take diciplinary action. Final eps of current season are finished, Clarksons contract not re-upped. Clarkson himself, finishes the eps pro bono.
TG put on hiatus, pending discussions with remaining personel about taking the show to the next stage, either termination or new format.
Declan
You British people are weird.
You can swear like a trooper in the Guardian.
I really don’t get what makes people want to apologize for a violent asshole and instead blame the company that didn’t cover it up well enough. It’s just so foreign to my way of thinking to be more upset at a company that did the right thing than the guy who threw a fit and hit another co-worker.
Eh, the guy who got hit is apparently fine with the whole thing and chummy with Clarkson again - it’s not like a child molester scandal where irreparable damage was done. So if the guy who got hit got over it, and people working on the show aside from one or two people at the top want him to continue (because they can tolerate enough dickishness considering the sweet gig it lands them and they don’t want to kill the show), then what benefit is being served by firing him? Possibly hundreds of millions of fans are losing something they like over what exactly? To make an example to the star of a show of a worldwide hit whose appeal comes from his gruffness and lack of touchy feely goodness?
They don’t get sued the next time he does something even remotely like that? That they create a workplace environment that is respectful for all the workers, even those who aren’t willing to take a punch? That they’re not controlled by an egomanical douchebag with an inflated sense of superiority and a schtick that was tedious 5 years ago?
Yeah, I suppose I see your point. I doubt killing top gear can possibly be in their financial interest even assuming future lawsuit payouts, though. That show brings in a ton of money, and that’s going to drop dramatically.
I suppose you can’t let him run roughshod, but then if he’s the reason your show is so successful, he really does have power. I think a better way to hit him would’ve been to put language in his contract docking his pay severely for every future incident. That way Top Gear still exists and the fans are still happy, but Clarkson has an incentive not to be a dick, and punishment if he was anyway.
Close to this. I’ll still be able to get BBC America but it will be an extra fee and a hard decision.
Maybe its being American but I think back to Zsa Zsa slapping a cop to todays antics among NFL players and to me, what Clarkson did just isn’t all that bad. Far from something I would condone but worth ending the show over maybe?
Apologise for Jeremy, not likely. Physical violence in the work place needs censure, but I tend to think that the amount of time for the “inquiry” had to do with the beeb looking for a way out , and not canning Jeremy, than any actual enquiries. So this sudden death overtime thing, for stuff that should have been swept away led to the beeb painting themselves into a corner.
Going forward what happens, the trio go to a new network and make pots of money. Does not really sound to me like Jeremy is getting a punitive sentence.
Declan
I know it’s partially a matter of taste, but I just don’t buy this whole “TG is Clarkson” and “no one can introduce the Stig like Clarkson” thing. I think it’s complete crap.
IIRC there have been occasions when May and Hammond have done the prime compere role because Clarkson’s absent for some reason, and they do it just as well. The stig introduction is all about the lines, which are written by writers, not Clarkson.
But my biggest point is this: TG isn’t about Clarkson, it’s about production and chemistry. It went from a basic straight up boring car show to an entertainment juggernaut through two things, IME. Clarkson isn’t responsible for the first, and he’s only one leg of the tripod as to the second.
To expand, as to the first, TG has generally good-to-excellent story/segment ideas and high production values and its success has given it access to a good budget which has enabled the producers to give effect to some really big ideas. None of that is Clarkson. It’s a team of writers and producers.
As to the second, there is fun tension between the presenters. May and Clarkson don’t get on, and Hammond is picked on and bullied but has the chirpiness and resilience to put up with it and give back as good as he gets. Or at least that’s the way the characters are written.
Personally I regard the chemistry as being like the standard movie plot where the evil guy does bad things so that, in the third act, the audience feels great when the good guys give the evil guy his comeuppance. Clarkson is the “bad guy” character whose key role is to be a boorish buffoon in order for us to feel good when he occasionally doesn’t get his way, and to cheer when the “nice guy” characters (May and Hammond) let fly some well deserved absolute zingers in Clarkson’s direction from time to time.
I suspect it would be a mistake to just introduce a new bad guy: re-makes seldom work out. But I think that’s because of the way the trio works, not Clarkson in particular.
you’re making excuses for someone who assaulted another person over goddamn dinner just because you like the TV show he’s on. That is utterly reprehensible. You literally are supporting the notion that the rich and famous should get to live by different rules than the rest of us.
Would punching Piers Morgan a few more times be sufficient penance to forgive his assaulting the TG producer?
I think five punches should cover it. And the production guy gets to knee Clarkson in the groin real hard.
ETA: And it all has to be on camera.