Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle column calls for Amazon shows to be cancelled
Clarkson also issued a new public apology to the column, claiming she sent an apology email to Markle and Prince Harry on Christmas Day.
Exactly one month after former “Top Gear” host Jeremy Clarkson sparked outrage by publishing a column in “The Sun” containing several inflammatory statements about Meghan Markle, the veteran TV host’s two Amazon series are likely to be canceled is coming to an end.
Species reports that the TV host’s Amazon Prime Video series “The Grand Tour,” a “Top Gear” spinoff, and “Clarkson’s Farm,” a documentary about his farm in the Cotswolds, will not be renewed for past seasons that have already been commissioned. That means “Clarkson’s Farm,” which premieres its second season on Feb. 10, will likely end in 2024 with an already-ordered Season 3, while “The Grand Tour” will end after four special episodes ordered for the streamer. Variety also reported that Tuesday’s press conference for season 2 of Clarkson’s Farm has been canceled.
Amazon Prime Video declined to comment on the news to IndieWire.
It should be noted that while Variety says Prime Video is “parting ways” with Clarkson, the story also says the streamer has several other shows in the works with the host that are currently in the works. This means that even though his current shows are coming to an end, it’s possible that he’ll stay with the streamer with another project.
Additionally, after apologizing for her column three days after it was posted on Twitter, Clarkson issued a broader apology to Markle and her husband Prince Harry on Instagram on Monday. In the post, in which she said Amazon and ITV were “hot” for her comments, she claimed she had emailed Markle and Prince Harry to apologize for her remarks, saying: “I said I was confused about what was said on TV, but that the language used in my column was disgraceful and I deeply regret it.
“There was a slow rumble at the beginning and I ignored it. But then the rumblings got louder,” Clarkson wrote of the backlash to the column. “So I picked up a copy of The Sun to see what the fuss was about. I think we’ve all been there. The moment we suddenly realize that we are completely confused. You’re sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head is pounding. And you feel bad. I couldn’t believe what I read. Did I really say that? It was horrible.”
In a Dec. 16 column for British tabloid The Sun, Clarkson wrote that she “hated” Markle on a “cellular” level, comparing her to Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon and serial killer Rose West, and painted the picture that the duchess directs the actions of her husband, Prince Harry. Referring to the “Game of Thrones” scene when Lena Headey is forced to walk through King’s Landing naked after confessing to adultery, Clarkson wrote: “I can’t sleep at night as I lay there grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day that naked must be marched through the streets of every town in Great Britain, with crowds chanting “Shame on you!” and throws lumps of excrement at him.”
The column sparked almost immediate backlash, with Harry calling it “horrible, hurtful and cruel” to Markle in an interview with ITV, and Clarkson’s daughter Emily condemning her father on social media. The independent British Press Standards Organization received a record 21,000 complaints about the column, while The Sun apologized a week after it was published.
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