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UK: TV presenter gets last warning from BBC over alleged racism

06 May 2014
3 minute read

Jeremy Clarkson, one of three presenters of "Top Gear", a popular British TV show about cars, has received his final warning from the BBC over the fact that he allegedly used an offensive expression for a dark-skinned person when filming one of its episodes. The term "nigger" allegedly was used by Clarkson during recording in 2013; the footage was never used but has now been brought to light by a British tabloid.

The British press has devoted extensive coverage to the most recent scandal involving the controversial presenter, reporting that it is not clear from the recording what the disputed word even was. Clarkson, who is 54, was called onto the carpet by BBC heads after the Daily Mirror reported that he had allegedly used the term "nigger" while reciting an old version of the children’s counting-game "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" in order to decide between two cars.

Today’s version of the verse replaces the word "nigger" with the word "tiger", and Clarkson has since admitted that the footage appears to show him mumbling "nigger". He decided at the time to film the scene again and used the word "teacher" instead. 

The Daily Mirror has not revealed how it got hold of the footage or why it has brought it forward at this moment. However, the revelations have led to calls for Clarkson to either leave the program on his own or to be sacked by the BBC.

The BBC is a public broadcaster financed from television fees paid by every British household owning a television. The presenter, who is known for other controversial or openly offensive remarks, apologized last week in a video that was published on Twitter. 

Despite the apology, he has been given a final warning. "The BBC has told me that if I make another offensive remark anytime and anywhere, they will fire me," Clarkson wrote in his regular Saturday column for The Sun.

Clarkson insists that he does not use the "n-word" because he considers it "extremely flagrant". "It’s funny. I always thought they would fire me for something I said, not for something I didn’t say," he added.

During the 26 years of its existence, "Top Gear" has been broadcast to 214 countries around the world, including the Czech Republic, and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013 as the most-watched TV documentary program in the world. Thanks to the program, Clarkson, who was originally a journalist, has become one of Britain’s most famous celebrities.

His extreme opinions, which he has no problem sharing both on television and off, have put him at loggerheads with many car producers, environmental groups, governments, politicians, and others; on Facebook, for example, there even exists a page entitled "I Hate Jeremy Clarkson". The British edition of GQ magazine recently compiled several facts about this controversial figure of British television:

  • Born 11 April 1960 as the son of a teacher and a traveling salesman.
  • Career high points:  In 1988, when he got a job on "Top Gear", and again when the program was revived in 2002.
  • Low points:  Here it’s hard to decide where to begin. In 2009 he called British PM Gordon Brown a "silly cunt". In 2011 he sparked controversy by saying striking public sector employees "should be shot in front of their families."
  • What else has he said? "On Top Gear we do our best not to be sexist, but if some guy wants to think that way, it’s ok. People should be allowed to believe what they want." When asked whether more women might appear on Top Gear, he answered: "Who do you think pins our microphones on?"
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