After a heated and public battle, Jeremy Clarkson has been dropped from BBC’s Top Gear . Fans of the show had been very vocal about wanting him to return despite a recent suspension after an altercation with producer Oisin Tymon. Despite the public attention to the issue, Clarkson’s contract ultimately was not renewed.
Deadline shares the news that Jeremy Clarkson will not return to Top Gear. The network’s director general, Tony Hall, confirmed the news. It seems that buzz about the final decision had been swirling in the hours before the confirmation, which came just ahead of the date where the contract was due to be renewed.
“It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon.”
The BBC executive added that now they must look ahead to work on renewing the show for 2016, something that he says he knows will be a challenge. The network is working on how they might make that possible, as well as how they can work on the last episodes of the current season.
Hall revealed additional details regarding the altercation between Clarkson and Tymon that led to this controversial decision. He says that Tymon was an innocent party who took himself to the emergency room after being physically injured by Clarkson.
Hall adds that the physical injury came after “sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature.” He says that lines were crossed and while Hall remarks that Clarkson made an “extraordinary contribution” to the network, they cannot have different rules for different people involved in the production.
BBC News says that the March 10 incident reportedly came after Clarkson became upset that no hot food was provided for him after a day of filming. Tymon reportedly went to the hospital with bleeding and swelling to his lip, and the verbal abuse continued after the physical attack, with Clarkson allegedly threatening to have Tymon fired, among other things.
Clarkson began with Top Gear in 1988, and fans battled hard to get him reinstated after his suspension. Fans started a petition at Change.org after the incident. More than 1 million people signed the petition , but ultimately, it didn’t save Clarkson’s Top Gear gig.
Did the BBC make the right call in firing Jeremy Clarkson? Can Top Gear continue without him?
[Image via AutoBlog ]
