Jeremy Clarkson’s 5 Most Controversial Moments

Jeremy Clarkson is one of the most controversial television presenters in Britain. However, he is also among the most experienced, having started work as an automotive journalist in the 1980s. Presently 56, he has been known for his controversial views, statements, and actions.

It's a Ford sort of day at W Chump and sons pic.twitter.com/A4VhmSWVkr

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) September 6, 2016

Just last year, he was sacked from the motoring program, Top Gear, after physically assaulting producer Oisin Tymon for failing to arrange for hot steak after a hard day’s work. Presently working on a new car show on Amazon Prime, fans all over the world are eagerly waiting for the first episode to be aired. That said, the following are five of his most controversial moments.

Not exactly how I saw the first day of my holiday panning out. pic.twitter.com/biVKtCyfIf

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) August 13, 2016

The controversial Falklands number plate

In 2014, when Jeremy Clarkson was still working for Top Gear, he and his crew made the mistake of driving in Argentina, with Jeremy’s car featuring a number plate reading H982 FKL. Locals saw this as an attempt at mocking them by referencing the Falklands War. The angry mob and controversy forced Clarkson and his co-presenters to leave Argentina in haste. It was suspected that Clarkson had ordered the number plate on purpose, but after further investigation, he was absolved of any wrongdoing.

Calling the prime minister a “one eyed idiot”

Clarkson is known for his brash verbiage and on one occasion in 2009, he called former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a “one eyed idiot,” while speaking to Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister. This was as they were talking about the global financial crisis. The following was his exact statement.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a world leader [Rudd] admit we really are in deep s**t. He genuinely looked terrified. Poor man, he’s actually seen the books. We have this one-eyed Scottish idiot who keeps telling us everything’s fine and he’s saved the world and we know he’s lying, but he’s smooth at telling us.”

This is as reported by The Guardian.

Lorry drivers murdering prostitutes statement

Jeremy Clarkson once made an insensitive comment on Top Gear while describing how hard it was to be a truck driver, stating, “This is a hard job and I’m not just saying that to win favor with lorry drivers – it’s a hard job: Change gear, change gear, change gear, check mirror, murder a prostitute, change gear, change gear, murder. That’s a lot of effort in a day”. The BBC received numerous complaints from viewers, including Chris Mole, whose constituency had witnessed murders related to this. This is as reported by the BBC.

Lazy Mexicans joke

In 2011, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond came under fire for making jokes about Mexicans while on the Top Gear show. The following was the controversial statement by Richard while speaking about their cars.

“Mexican cars are just going to be a lazy, feckless, flatulent, oaf with a mustache leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat,”

Jeremy chimed in stating, “At the Mexican embassy, the ambassador is going to be sitting there with a remote control like this [snores]. They won’t complain, it’s fine.”

This is as reported by Metro.

Supposedly racist and sexist comment about television presenters

In 2009, Jeremy Clarkson offered a controversial view as to why Top Gear was so successful, and the following was his statement in regard to the phenomenon.

“The problem is that television executives have got it into their heads that if one presenter on a show is a blond-haired, blue-eyed heterosexual boy, the other must be a black Muslim lesbian. Chalk and cheese, they reckon, works. But here we have Top Gear setting new records after six years using cheese and cheese. It confuses them.”

This is according to the Guardian.

[Featured Image by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images for LTA]