Hours after Jeremy Clarkson made an apology about his Meghan Markle comments that was 'A mea culpa with bells on', it's been claimed by Variety that his Amazon shows won't continue. The presenter also today revealed he'd spent Christmas morning writing directly to Prince Harry and Meghan to apologise.
In December, Clarkson's column for The Sun had more than 20,000 complaints to Ipso, after his comments about Meghan. In it, he wrote: 'At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.'
Sources tell Varietythat Amazon won't work with Clarkson after the series of The Grand Tour and Clarkson's Farm that have already been commissioned. This would take him as far as 2024, or even 2025, the industry website claims.
In December, Clarkson apologised for his column, saying he'd 'rather put my foot in it' and added: 'In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people.' He added: 'I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.'
Today he released a lengthy apology, reportedly a day before a press event for the new series of Clarkson's Farm was due to take place.
Amazon did not comment on Variety's story, but in Clarkson's statement he says ITV and Amazon were 'incandescent'.
In today's statement, he said: 'I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up. It’s a mea culpa with bells on.'
After explaining the day he filed the column, he continued: 'It was a slow rumble to start with and I ignored it. But then the rumble got louder. So I picked up a copy of The Sun to see what all the fuss was about. We’ve all been there, I guess. In that precise moment when we suddenly realise we’ve completely messed up. You are sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head pounds. And you feel sick. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Had I really said that? It was horrible.'
In his interview with ITV, Prince Harry said the column was 'horrific' adding: 'It also encourages other people around the U.K. and around the world, particularly men, to go and think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.'