Few things in the world generate such intense opinions and feelings as does the British Royal Family. Many of those opinions come from high profile Britons themselves. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has been a particularly divisive figure following her marriage to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Of the many things that have been said or written about the Duchess, few have been as vitriolic as those from “Top Gear” presenter Jeremy Clarkson in December of 2022. Following another article he wrote about her, Clarkson may be persona non grata at Amazon.
Clarkson is no stranger to controversy. One of the reasons he began working with Amazon was because of his dismissal from “Top Gear.” Clarkson was accused of being verbally and physically abusive to production staff, leading to his termination in 2015. The accusations were substantiated in part with Clarkson admitting he did indeed punch one of the staff members. Despite the controversy his services remained in high demand and he would go on to create “The Grand Tour” at Amazon and later star in the documentary series, “Clarkson’s Farm.”
Flash forward to December of 2022, and an article that Clarkson wrote for The Sun. In the article, Clarkson expresses a rather extreme amount of hate for the Duchess going so far as to say he hates her on a “cellular level.” He then goes on to express his desire to see her paraded naked through the streets of every town in Britain while people throw excrement at her and shout, “Shame!.” [While not outright stated in the article, Clarkson would later clarify that this was a reference to “Game of Thrones” and how the same thing was done to Cersei Lannister.]
Regardless of pop culture reference, the article met with immediate backlash and it was pulled from The Sun with the paper issuing an apology. On January 16th, 2023, Clarkson would also offer an apology on his Instagram account.
The apology comes after an Amazon press conference. It’s being reported that it’s very likely Amazon will be cutting ties with Clarkson entirely following the conclusion of the already produced episodes of “The Grand Tour,” and this season of “Clarkson’s Farm.”
Amazon has not yet officially commented on their future with Clarkson. If they do end up cutting ties with him, it won’t exactly be difficult to figure out why. Perhaps Clarkson is legitimately sorry, but why does he have such hate for the Duchess anyway? Again, the British Royal Family is one of the few things in the world that can draw up controversy like no other, but maybe don’t dream about being able to throw excrement at someone.
