Jeremy Clarkson will likely be dropped by Amazon, it has been reported, as he revealed he had emailed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to apologise for his “disgraceful” column, which is alleged to have “incited violence against Meghan”. The Telegraph has the story.
The former Top Gear host wrote in the Sun last month that he had dreamed of the Duchess being paraded through British towns naked while crowds hurl excrement and chant “shame”.
He claimed that “everyone who’s my age thinks the same way”.
In a lengthy post published on his Instagram page, Clarkson suggested that he was apologising because he had been asked to and admitted that both ITV and Amazon were “incandescent”.
But he insisted he was sorry “all the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head”.
He said he had emailed the Sussexes to apologise on Christmas Day but at the same time, told the couple he was “baffled” by their Netflix series.
Meanwhile, industry sources revealed that Amazon Prime Video, which broadcasts The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm, would likely be parting ways with the presenter and would not be working on any further seasons beyond those already commissioned.
It would mean that Clarkson would likely not appear in any new shows on Prime Video beyond 2024, according to Variety.
His column was eventually removed from the Sun’s website – at Clarkson’s request – after 17,500 complaints made it the most complained-about article in the press regulator’s history.
The row escalated again last week, when Prince Harry told ITV in an interview that the “cruel” article incited violence against women and said the monarchy’s silence on the matter was “deafening”.
Clarkson noted on Instagram that apologies never work. Yet he grovelled before Duchess Difficult anyway. He wrote:
One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologise for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it’s never enough for the people who called for it in the first place.
So I’m going to try and buck the trend this morning with an apology for the things I said in a Sun column recently about Meghan Markle. 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.
Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed Send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the landmine exploded.
Clarkson claims he had inadvertently omitted to mention it was a Game of Thrones reference.
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.
I knew what had happened straight away. I’d been thinking of a scene in Games Of Thrones, but I’d forgotten to mention this. So it looked like I was actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan’s head.
I was very angry with myself because in all those controversial days on Top Gear, when I was accused of all sorts of things, it was very rarely sexism.
I was mortified and so was everyone else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me.
He expresses worry that he won’t be able to write interesting columns anymore now that he must remain “vigilant” against offending the professionally offended.
So can I move on now? Not sure. It’s hard to be interesting and vigilant at the same time. You never hear peals of laughter coming from a health and safety seminar. But I promise you this, I will try.
Never apologise to the woke, Jeremy. It has only ever made things worse.
Let’s hope Amazon doesn’t drop him, and bring to an end the The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm. You’d think the company would realise that if it doesn’t stand by its hugely popular talent, it doesn’t deserve them. But the ‘woke mind virus’ makes people do some very self-destructive things.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: The Sussexes have rejected Clarkson’s apology, saying he has a “long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny”. MailOnline has more.
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Thanks very much. I have been struggling with this. Hopefully, there is enough info for the technically useless such as me. Too many websites assume competence levels at the same standing as the site designers.
I have two regular payments going out to other Sceptic sites so I need to organise alternatives first. It’s a right ball…Perhaps though we can shut PP down.
And then on the other side of the scale we have the Swiss Banks and the Bank of International Settlements…
“How may we help you, Sir?”
“I have a war to finance, and need somewhere to hold the wealth of my victims, and I will not tell you my real name nor anything else about me, and if you try to make enquiries about me I will surely find out and make your last few moments very… difficult.”
“Yes of course, Sir, please step this way. Kaffee und Kuchen?”
Ah, what a strange world we live in…
Having said this, not to be unfair to the Swiss, many BSV-related operations are registered there.
‘A reader reports that when he tried to close his account he got a message saying: “We’re sorry, we’re not able to process your request right now. Please try again later.”
I encountered this, also another message about a pending transaction. What was stopping closure I discovered was there was a Direct Debit Mandate which had been set up when I linked PayPal to my bank account. I was not aware of this.
Once I had cancelled this with my bank – I did it on-line – I was immediately able to close the PayPal account.
Toby, add a Stop Press 2!
I wonder if the ‘banning’ of numerous accounts – and thus holding on to the money for six months – has been a way for PayPal to try to keep money in its coffers. It’s possible PayPal simply no longer has the funds to reimburse all the people closing their accounts or even those moving across money on a normal basis. Woke capital is living up the the ‘Get woke, go broke’ saying!
Just checked their Trustpilot rating. Pretty bad and it’s not all due to recent events
Brilliant! I expect the 8% giving a rating of five work for the company.
My experiences of trying to close my account…first you have to cancel all automated recurring payments via Paypal. I think to do this I just went to ‘Payments’ within Paypal. When you’ve done this, and try to cancel, you may get a message saying that the account can’t be closed because there’s a transaction in progress/pending transaction. Wait a few days then try again. If there’s still a transaction in process wait a few more days then try again. Eventually you will, as I did, find that you will be able to cancel. Oh and before you cancel remember to send a complaint saying why you’re cancelling. And here’s one advantage of cancelling – all those ‘Paypal’ debits on your bank statement – it’s wonderful to see after all these years the retailers’ names! I haven’t found it ‘inconvenient’ to go back to using my Visa card for online purchases (in the circumstances, it’s a pleasure).
👍
PayPal going under would be a nice start.
You also have to delete any payment link apps using Paypal. I had this set up on Quickbooks so my customers could pay their invoices (yes bad luck Paypal your piss-poor-practice just lost a fair few quid each year from my business) and I had to delete the app in Quickbooks before Paypal would allow me to close the account.
I only hope enough ordinary decent folk get their money out before the house of cards collapses.
Netflix, Amazon, Apple and co better watch out as well. General Tobes is on a war footing!
Go analogue! Especially with your assets. Before the choice is removed altogether.
Thanks for the explanatory notes above.
Account now closed.
Now to set up new payments for Off-G and The Light.
Every little act, a million little cuts, it all counts.
I now wish I had a PayPal account, just so I could go and close it!
I have just successfully closed my PayPal account that I have had since 2003 – but not without some apprehension.
It must be clear to PayPal – and whoever they are connected to – that such behaviour would cause people to leave. So would cancelled accounts be a financial corporation’s desired objective? What if people began to predictably cancel other accounts when faced with similar corporate behaviour? Would it hasten the end of fiat money? Would it pave the way for something more unpalatable?
I am just speculating here, of course. But I am always wary about going down easy paths that seem to have been opened up by untrustworthy organisations.
When a misinformation policy goes out in error, it brings irony to a whole new level.
Someone in PayPal admin is quite the butterfingers!
Who do they think they are – PayPolice?
Had an account since 2011 but they’ve slashed on their pomme frites good and proper. . Closed it last week.
I’m quite annoyed because I can’t cancel my PayPal account twice. Having done it in solidarity with The Daily Sceptic, I now can’t cancel it again over their proposed THEFT of my money because they don’t like my opinions.
Also, make sure you delete your bank card from Paypal. Don’t want them having your debit card details.
The $2500 charge on your account if you are naughty is still in the Acceptable Use Policy for USA Paypal users:
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en_US#s4-restricted-activities.
Some ‘mistake’.