Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson apologises for his One Show rant
Having said that he won’t apologise for saying the striking workers should be shot, Jeremy Clarkson has backtracked and apologised…
However, his sense of humour prevailed and he told the Sun that he was actually apologizing for saying he didn’t like sparrows!
He said, “I caused grave offence. I hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”
But joking aside, he did then apologise for his “shoot them all” remark, which sparked 4,800 complaints to flood in to the BBC.
Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, threatened legal action and demanded that Jeremy be fired for saying, “Frankly, I’d have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families…”
He added, “Clarkson’s comments were totally outrageous, and cannot be tolerated.
“We are seeking urgent legal advice about what further action we can take against him and the BBC.
“Public sector workers and their families are utterly shocked.
“Whilst he is driving round in fast cars for a living, they are busy holding our society together.
“We are calling on the BBC to sack Jeremy Clarkson immediately.”
In reply, Jeremy said, “I was just making a joke about the BBC’s need to be impartial.
“If you listen to the whole interview, you’ll see there isn’t a case to answer.
“I started by saying I supported the strikers. Obviously, because it’s the BBC, I have to be impartial.
“So then I said they should be shot.
“Most people who are complaining haven’t seen the full interview. It’s a knee-jerk reaction.
“I would urge Unison to watch the whole interview and see if they’re still offended afterwards.”
Last night, Jeremy said in a statement, “I didn’t for a moment intend these remarks to be taken seriously — as I believe is clear if they’re seen in context.
!If the BBC and I have caused any offence, I’m happy to apologise alongside them.”
The BBC added, “We feel the item wasn’t perfectly judged.”
Prime Minister David Cameron branded Jeremy’s remarks as “a silly thing to say”, while Labour leader Ed Miliband said his remarks had been “absolutely disgraceful and disgusting”.
You can see yesterday’s report on the incident here, where there’s also a clip of Jeremy making his remarks.
However, though it was definitely a daft thing to say, I think political correctness has been going mad of late, and I would have thought – but maybe it’s not the case – that people would have realized it was meant light heartedly.
I doubt if Jeremy actually intended to shoot anyone, so I think the reaction has been totally OTT.
What say you?
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I want to start by saying that I personally am not against the strike action. I don’t believe that doctors, nurses, teachers and the like are paid what they are worth and I don’t think it’s unfair of them to ask, after years and years of training and hard slog to get to where they are today, that they finish out the job on the same terms that were in place when they went into it.
However, I do think that Clarkson *was* joking. It may have been in poor taste, and he’s a lot of things (I’m not a fan really) but he’s not stupid. Even if it were his opinion that the strikers should be shot, he’d hardly come right out and say it in all serious on National TV.
I think it’s a bit rich that Unison are demanding legal action too – they’re just using the whole thing to try to gain more publicity for their cause. I’m not saying that trying to get publicity for the cause is wrong, but using Clarksongate to get it? Just a tad bit hypocritical, no?