I understand what the BBC did. But maybe, just maybe the production guy should have had a hot meal ready.
I think it’s been clearly said that it wasn’t his fault - shooting ran long and when they got to the hotel the kitchen was closed. It appears he was simply the messenger.
I come down on the side of firing him being the right call. Letting him get away with it would send the wrong message, and given Clarkson’s recidivism after other antics, I don’t see this being the last time something like this would happen.
And the whole “can’t work without him” stuff is bs - the show limped along for years with him. His removal may cause another format change (and go ahead and drop Hammond and May as well), but that doesn’t have to be the end of the world.
why? So a 54-year-old man wouldn’t throw a temper tantrum and start hitting people?
jesus fucking christ. The fucking “production guy” is not a cook. A guy who’s almost old enough to be my father and makes millions per year should have a better grip on his emotions than to assault someone because he’d rather have steak instead of a deli platter. goddamn, it’s fucking disgusting the contortions some of you are doing to defend this prick.
…“I understand why he got arrested for beating his wife, but maybe she should have had a hot meal for him ready when he got home.”
The lengths that people are going to defend Clarkson has now descended into self parody. I have no idea if people are taking the piss or not. In civilised society you don’t hit someone because you didn’t get a hot meal. Especially when a hot meal had been organised for earlier in the day and he didn’t get that meal because he decided to go out on the piss.
Yeah, I suggest you read up a little more.
Sounds like Clarkson and the other two finished shooting in the studio at a reasonable time but then chose to spend the evening drinking, then got all pissy when (unsurprisingly) the kitchen staff had gone home, leaving a cold cut dinner.
I’m sure not everyone is defending him as the last bastion against the onslaught of nanny state do-gooders who object to casual racism, xenophobia and the so-called science of ‘global warming’. If god hadn’t wanted us to drive too fast He wouldn’t have invented Top Gear.
Well, I reckon the BBC f**ked this up as much as Clarkson did. They’ve thrown out their cash cow over principals (TG will likely continue on the BBC, but not with the same global impact). And probably lost a bunch of cash of the last few episodes (reshot with a different team?)
Then they’ve thrown out a highly successful team wit a hell of a lot of publicity in a world hungry for content, with players such as Microsoft (netflix), Amazon, HBO and Apple. The ex-tg team can write their own cheques (and I suspect some of the team which worked with them on TG, producers, writers, researchers, might well come with them if they want to be rich).
For the record, there are Union requirements in AFTRA and other theater guilds concerning food, toilets, clean costumes, and so forth for actors. This came after decades of abuse by theaters. Front of the house was for paying customers and clean. Backstage it would be filthy. No bathrooms, so actors had to piss in the sinks. No place to hang up costumes. Costumes never got laundered. They reeked. You can imagine the slop they provided the actors for food. If they even bothered offering any food. It was a lot different during the days of Vaudeville and Burlesque. The guilds fought hard to get actors decent and clean working environments.
I’m just saying it was the producers responsibility to ensure good food was waiting at the end of a work day. Craft services is part of the contract. Especially since it was for the stars of one of the BBC’s biggest rated shows. A steak isn’t outrageous for somebody if their work is generating millions of dollars in revenue.
I just wonder how many other times Clarkson and the others got back to the hotel and found cold cuts waiting for them? How many other times did he ask politely for better food? Before he finally got fed up (LOL) and went off on the producer? I don’t know if this was the first cold meal or not. Since they’ve been filming for quite a few years it seems likely this has happened before.
Do the AFTRA requirements state you can punch someone in the face if these things aren’t forthcoming?
No they don’t. The article linked earlier states no punches were thrown. Swear words yes. No punches.
Clarkson should have remained professional. But we just don’t know how many other times he had issues with this producer. This might of been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Either way, there were better and more professional ways to handle this. Clarkson deserved suspension. Firing? I’m just not sure.
…what on earth are you talking about?
We just had someone say " But maybe, just maybe the production guy should have had a hot meal ready." That is about as lame a defence of Clarkson as you can get. If you’ve got a non-lame defence of Clarkson, or if you can give a better reason why Clarkson shouldn’t have been fired than “lots of people like him!” then by all means spell it out.
[QUOTE=aceplace57]
For the record, there are Union requirements in AFTRA and other theater guilds concerning food, toilets, clean costumes, and so forth for actors. This came after decades of abuse by theaters. Front of the house was for paying customers and clean. Backstage it would be filthy. No bathrooms, so actors had to piss in the sinks. No place to hang up costumes. Costumes never got laundered. They reeked. You can imagine the slop they provided the actors for food. If they even bothered offering any food. It was a lot different during the days of Vaudeville and Burlesque. The guilds fought hard to get actors decent and clean working environments.
I’m just saying it was the producers responsibility to ensure good food was waiting at the end of a work day. Especially since it was for the stars of one of the BBC’s biggest rated shows.
I just wonder how many other times Clarkson and the others got back to the hotel and found cold cuts waiting for them? How many other times did he ask politely for better food? Before he finally got fed up (LOL) and went off on the producer?
[/QUOTE]
See what I mean?
Lame.
Ultra lame.
Being fed cold cuts isn’t a freaking crime. It isn’t abuse. It isn’t what theatre guilds and unions have been fighting for. It doesn’t matter how many times he asked “politely” for better food. He didn’t just go off on a producer. He hit him. There is no excuse for that.
…I suggest you don’t rely on the reports earlier in the thread and read the summary of the report I cited earlier that resulted in Clarkson getting fired. The report was absolutely clear that Tymon did nothing wrong. Even Clarkson concedes this.
scurries off to change. org
An accurate and informative non sequitur.
It was, and he did. In some ways it’s your responsibility to appraise yourself of the facts before offering an opinion. Clarkson chose not to take advantage of the good food waiting at the end of a work day - instead, he went to get drunk. This may or may not have contributed to his attitude that the world should revolve around him when he got a bit peckish later (I’m surprised he hadn’t stopped off for a kebab, or perhaps some Bullingdon-style boisterousness at the expense of ‘Abdul’ in the local curry-house).
Craft services is an american expression. I don’t know if British contractual conditions mirror those in the US…do you?
A steak is not outrageous if you choose to regard kitchen staff as scum because they earn less than the fool who chose to drink until the servants had gone home. Why, in my day, the damn downstairs staff knew their place! They’d wake up when the Master of the house returned, at any hour, and cook him a damn steak, or get a taste of the horsewhip. (Sorry, a transatlantic equivalent would perhaps be the uppity niggers in the kitchen thinking they had contracts which limited their exploitation…)
‘Other’? He did not ask “politely” for “better” food. He petulantly demanded different food, as a result of his choosing not to give a **** for the little people. Then he assaulted someone. He should thank his lucky stars it wasn’t in the US, somebody might have shot the little shit.
Since he’s an insufferable arse, I’m amazed it hasn’t happened before. But at least the BBC sent a clear message that you can’t punch your colleagues in their organisation. Where do you work, and which of your colleagues get to punch you?
But there was no shouting match, and there was no fistfight. According to the BBC investigation findings (which someone already linked to upthread), it was agreed by everyone (presumably including Clarkson) that “Tymon was subject to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Jeremy Clarkson” which “lasted around 30 seconds and was halted by the intervention of a witness”, and that “Tymon offered no retaliation”. One person physically and verbally attacking another person who puts up no resistance is not a “shouting match” or “fistfight”.
My bolding. The audience pay for the BBC, and the BBC tries to ensure output is well-received, so they usually do care. The victim has already said he’s not okay with JC going, and has had to leave his home because he’s fearful for his safety. That’s a big overreaction, I think, but people are quite emotional over this issue so whatever he wants to do is okay by me.
Of course safety in the workplace is important, but sometimes people have workplace accidents. This was no accident, it was JC being a knob, but these things happen from time to time. I respect the point that the BBC has the right to fire him but most fans don’t want him to go, the producer doesn’t, JC’s colleagues don’t - I think this is politics and political correctness overruling pragmatism. Obviously some do think he should go and he has been sacked. C’est la vie in the BBC, I guess.
Okay legal point taken but wow, I don’t believe people really think a grown man striking another grown man is the same as a grown man sexually assaulting a child. It’s not in the same ball park, it isn’t even in the same time zone.
I already addressed your rich/famous point in this thread; I respectfully direct you to read the previous comments.
Oh great Og on a pogo stick, aceplace57. Do the actual facts as recounted in the numerous links provided mean anything to you? Or are you just so damn determined to exonerate the Great Clarkson that you would rather just not know what actually happened so you can assume, firstly, that something happened that didn’t, and secondly that what didn’t happen had happened a number of times before?
Fighting ignorance my arse. Wilful manufacture of ignorance, more like.
I totally agreed with the suspension. Given the circumstances, I thought it was worthwhile giving the guy another chance. If he doesn’t change his attitude, then fire his ass. A lot of misbehaving celebrities have gotten second chances. Nothing unusual about it.
The BBC saw it differently. That’s their prerogative. Clarkson will get another job some place else. C’est la vie. Life goes on.
He was on final warning. He’d been given several chances already. Have you ready anything about this story before offering us up your opinion?
…the criminal justice system is not the place for a popularity contest. Clarkson hit someone. The police are now investigating the incident. There is no place in the workplace for a bully no matter how popular they are. The feelings of the audience have no place in this decision.
The BBC can’t just ignore the issue because the victim apparently claims “he’s not okay with JC going”, because that is something victims of bullying tend to say, and because the BBC hold a duty of care to their other employees.
Oh give me a break with the sob stories and the claims of “political correctness.” Clarkson hit a workmate. That would have gotten me fired from any of the jobs I’ve held over the last 20 years. I’m sure it would have gotten you fired if you did the same thing. Why do you think Clarkson should be an exception because he is popular?
This has nothing to do with politics or political correctness. This was the same decision nearly every workplace would have taken around the world.