Jeremy Clarkson is facing public backlash for detailing a “vile” fantasy in which Meghan Markle is marched “naked through the streets” while crowds “throw lumps of excrement” at her.
The television presenter and media pundit used his column in a weekend newspaper to describe his dream of seeing the Duchess of Sussex publicly humiliated and degraded for, he said, using her husband Prince Harry as a “glove puppet” and leading impressionable youngsters to believe that the King and the Prince of Wales are “bullies who are waited on hand and foot by slaves, eunuchs and spin doctors”.
Clarkson’s column in Saturday’s edition of The Sun, headlined “One day, Harold the glove puppet will tell the truth about A Woman Talking B*****ks”, paints a picture of the Duke of Sussex – referred to as “Harold Markle” – as a “a slightly dim but fun-loving chin” led astray by Meghan, and posits that the Duchess used “vivid bedroom promises” to transform her husband into a “warrior of woke”.
“I hate her,” Clarkson seethes in the piece. “Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.”
He then goes on to explain in vivid detail how he would like to see her punished in a fantasy seemingly drawn from an episode of Game of Thrones, in which a character is stripped naked and forced to undergo a gruelling “walk of shame” through jeering crowds.
“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,” the former Top Gear presenter wrote.
The braggadocious columnist, who also writes for fellow News UK title The Sunday Times and presents The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime, is known for his take-no-prisoners, “shock jock” tone – but his latest dispatch has been widely condemned, including by those professing to be fans of the media personality.
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The column unleashed hundreds of comments on social media objecting to Clarkson and The Sun newspaper, and calling for advertisers to pull their online and print ads.
“I’ve been a fan of Jeremy Clarkson for years but after his genuinely vile comments about Meghan in The Sun, I’m done. No more Clarkson Prime Video content for me,” one reader tweeted.
Watched the rest of #HarryandMeganNetflix Still think they’re pretty great and I love their relationship with Meghan’s gorgeous Mum, Doria. Wishing them continued happiness and people like that colossal cunt, Clarkson continued pain with the thought of it.
Many expressed disgust both at Clarkson and at The Sun for publishing the material.
“I’m not a fan of Meghan and Harry and haven’t liked the Netflix [documentary series released this month] but I cannot get over a) Jeremy Clarkson actually writing this b) The Sun actually publishing this,” another user tweeted.
Public figures including mathematician Carol Vorderman also railed against Clarkson, 62, and disputed his assertion that “everyone who’s my age thinks the same way”.
“Not on any level, in any circumstance, is it ok to write this stuff about any woman and absolutely no to ‘everyone who’s my age thinks the same’,” said Vorderman, 61.
“Listen to the noise Jeremy. The crowds are chanting ‘shame on you’,” she added.
Offering her thoughts on the matter, comedian Kathy Burke was characteristically frank. She said she wished Meghan and Harry “continued happiness and people like that colossal c***, Clarkson continued pain [at] the thought of it”.
@kt_grant
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