Jeremy Clarkson 'not racist' says BBC chief


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Jeremy Clarkson 'not racist' says BBC chief

 

The BBC's head of television, Danny Cohen, has said he does not believe Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is racist.

 

In a letter to the Guardian, Cohen wrote: "It's no secret that there have been some significant issues on Top Gear in recent months.

 

"Whilst Jeremy and I disagree on the language some have recently found very offensive, I do not think he or anyone on the Top Gear team are racist."

 

Clarkson was given a final warning about his behaviour on the show in May.

 

It followed claims he used a racist word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe during filming of the BBC Two programme. Clarkson subsequently apologised.

 

Last week, Ofcom ruled Clarkson broke broadcasting rules during a Top Gear special in Burma, also known as Myanmar, when he used "an offensive racial term... which was not justified by context".

 

'Unique take'

 

Cohen recently implemented an internal review of the show, which he described in his letter as a "health check".

 

"The BBC has taken [the recent issues] seriously and has left no one associated with the programme under any illusion just how seriously," he wrote.

 

"I instigated a health check on Top Gear to ensure that there were no further issues."

 

The investigation, which has now been completed, is understood to have included interviews with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May, and explored what the BBC expected of the show's stars.

 

Cohen added: "I want Top Gear to maintain its unique take on the world but more controversies of this nature would serve no one well."

 

He said he was "confident" the production team would ensure the show continued to be a "great success", adding the motoring show was "loved by millions of viewers around the world".

 

An earlier report in the Guardian claimed BBC director general Tony Hall saved Jeremy Clarkson from disciplinary action over the incident in May, overruling top executives including Cohen.

 

Source: BBC News

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Good.

The Daily Mail and the like need to stop their witch hunt. It's getting close to harassment now. You can't blame a presenter for a scripted show.

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Good.

The Daily Mail and the like need to stop their witch hunt. It's getting close to harassment now. You can't blame a presenter for a scripted show.

Have the Daily Mail really been doing a witch-hunt on this? I avoid them as much as I can, so I wouldn't know, but it'd seem ironic for them to do a witch-hunt on someone accused of racism when they're guilty of inciting racial hatred through some of their columnists and headline stories (most of which later on turn out to be false). Guess they hate the BBC more than they hate non-whites.

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TBH, the BBC make too much money from Top Gear and they know damn well that without Clarkson, there IS no Top Gear...

 

Chances of him getting fired? Zero.  They'd be more likely to offload the producer or director than Jezza. He made that show what it is, and it will not survive him leaving.

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But certainly we will be seeing/hearing far fewer racist jokes on Top Gear hence forth. Top Gear is all about taking potshots on all ethnic groups of this world.

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The Daily Mail and the like need to stop their witch hunt. It's getting close to harassment now.

The Daily Mail actually have the audacity to comment on this?? Pot calling the kettle black comes to mind

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The day Clarkson is fired or leaves Top Gear is probably the day I stop watching. The entire show is about being anti-PC and that's what makes the show so incredibly fun to watch.

 

There needs to be a giant unbunching of panties for those who watch this show and get offended. You should know going in that there is going to be something offensive said. That's like going to McDonald's for every meal and then suing McD for getting fat, or going to a haunted house and suing because you got scared. Boo freaking hoo.

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Clarkson may or may not be racist but he certainly uses offensive jokes about race to create controversy. I can't watch Top Gear, as it's far too contrived and over-the-top. Clarkson himself is just a caricature, played up for television.

 

British television can do better.

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Clarkson may or may not be racist but he certainly uses offensive jokes about race to create controversy. I can't watch Top Gear, as it's far too contrived and over-the-top. Clarkson himself is just a caricature, played up for television.

 

British television can do better.

 

LOL.....what you said is precisely why I love the show.  I am tired of the PC-bull crap world we live in.  Grow a pair, and if you don't like the show, don't watch it. (not an attack on anyone specifically, but to anyone who has issues with this show, you DONT have to watch it).

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LOL.....what you said is precisely why I love the show.  I am tired of the PC-bull crap world we live in.  Grow a pair, and if you don't like the show, don't watch it. (not an attack on anyone specifically, but to anyone who has issues with this show, you DONT have to watch it).

Fake controversy is fake. As I said, I don't watch the show precisely because I don't like it. Insulting my manhood isn't going to change that. Clarkson makes controversial statements for the sake of it, with the intention being to create headlines. Insulting entire racial, ethnic and socioeconomic demographics isn't a legitimate rebuttal to political correctness - it's infantile and manipulative.

 

Jeremy Clarkson is a race-baiter.

 

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Often insulting people is the only and probably the best thing one can do, in the face of utter idiocy that is happening at any given time on some place of the world. I'm glad it offends people. I want them to be offended.

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In his generation the N word was a big part of that rhyme. he grew up with it. Is it rasist .. today it is, but when he was growing up that's what they grew up saying. ... I think it was later changed to monkey.

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I was taught "catch a tigger"... and till this 'scandal' I was oblivious it was anything else. Probably because grown ups don't play chase and don't make decisions using rhymes.

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Fake controversy is fake. As I said, I don't watch the show precisely because I don't like it. Insulting my manhood isn't going to change that. Clarkson makes controversial statements for the sake of it, with the intention being to create headlines. Insulting entire racial, ethnic and socioeconomic demographics isn't a legitimate rebuttal to political correctness - it's infantile and manipulative.

 

Jeremy Clarkson is a race-baiter.

 

Of course it is a legitimate rebuttal, if someone such as Jeremy Clarkson can "figure out" and exploit the system to manufacture (and likely monetise) controversy in such a manner then the system is hilariously broken.

 

That's how pathetic the whole thing is. Swaths of self-identifying "intellectuals" repeatedly baited by a 50-something overgrown schoolboy. Even fish eventually start to learn not to take the bait.

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Of course it is a legitimate rebuttal, if someone such as Jeremy Clarkson can "figure out" and exploit the system to manufacture (and likely monetise) controversy in such a manner then the system is hilariously broken.

 

That's how pathetic the whole thing is. Swaths of self-identifying "intellectuals" repeatedly baited by a 50-something overgrown schoolboy. Even fish eventually start to learn not to take the bait.

Intellectuals aren't baited by him, though. It's tabloid rags like The Daily Mail that are and they only do it because it generates revenue.

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Intellectuals aren't baited by him, though. It's tabloid rags like The Daily Mail that are and they only do it because it generates revenue.

 

Seems a tad more widespread than just the Daily Mail and it's ilk to me.

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In his generation the N word was a big part of that rhyme. he grew up with it. Is it rasist .. today it is, but when he was growing up that's what they grew up saying. ... I think it was later changed to monkey.

 

Using the N word  is not always racist.

 

nword.png

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The fact that he mumbled it proves that he knew it was inappropriate.  I am not sure he should be fired, but in the same time his ignorance should not be overlooked either.  In regards to it being a "PC" thing - its beyond that.  Calling an African American person "Black" is a PC thing, just like calling someone Asian an "oriental".  Using the N word is something entirely different and should not be ignored or brushed under the rug.

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The fact that he mumbled it proves that he knew it was inappropriate.  I am not sure he should be fired, but in the same time his ignorance should not be overlooked either.  In regards to it being a "PC" thing - its beyond that.  Calling an African American person "Black" is a PC thing, just like calling someone Asian an "oriental".  Using the N word is something entirely different and should not be ignored or brushed under the rug.

 

He mumbled the whole sentence and the sentence after it. I've watched it repeatedly and could not make out the individual words he mumbled. 

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