Jeremy Clarkson's Meghan Markle column becomes most complained about article ever
20 December 2022, 12:17
Jeremy Clarkson's article about Meghan Markle has become the most complained about article ever seen by the independent press regulator Ipso.
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It has received more complaints for that one article in The Sun than the regulator got in all of 2021.
The former Top Gear presenter's column, in which he said he "hated" the Duchess of Sussex and dreamed of her being paraded naked while excrement was thrown at her, has been complained about more than 17,500 times.
Readers were outraged at his strong comments, in which he accused Meghan of using "vivid bedroom promises to turn [Harry] into a warrior of woke".
He added of Meghan: "I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level."
And in an allusion to a famous scene in the fantasy series Game of Thrones, 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."
Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. 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. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) December 19, 2022
His comments have been criticised as misogynistic.
Mr Clarkson said on Monday: "Oh dear. I've rather put my foot in it. 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.
"I'm horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future."
Ipso said the at least 17,500 complaints were more than the total number it got in all of 2021, when it received 14,355.
The piece has been removed from The Sun's website at the request of Mr Clarkson.
"We will follow our usual processes to examine the complaints we have received. This will take longer than usual because of the volume of complaints," an Ipso spokesperson said.
There have been calls for Mr Clarkson to be fired from jobs such as his presenting role on ITV's rebooted Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
