Fisticuffs end new "Top Gear" series - how the BBC risked biggest franchise over catering fracas

[Christina Ava]

the future of the world "political correctness" = end of free speech

[Cas1]

I want to thank Andrew for sticking out his head to voice his and mine frustration with political correctness. The exampled events maybe too fresh and undeveloped, but I agree with the political correctness that as a overbearing force has become very present in today's media. Such a force that it pushes out some of the most authentic and creative people within this industry.

Maybe someone can make a short documentary about this? or should I ask would someone dare to make one? would it make a difference?

Personally I'm getting very ticked off with all the pc memes that are pushed by all media. Memes such as: there are too many people, global warming, climate change, kalifate, Islamic state, etc, etc.

I wonder how The Wonder List would have been made if Philip Bloom was allowed to voice his personal views, instead of just getting the best image reflecting the aforementioned pc memes.

I wonder if film makers of today fear going against the pc memes of today? Would they be able to live of their craft if they would not portray and follow today's pc memes?

I love authentic work, even if it's not correct, faulted, it is genuine. Let's hope for less pressure and more breathing space.

[Pascal Garnier]

If you hit a coworker on the job, there's going to be consequences.
Top Gear will do just fine without Clarkson.  
That's all there is to it.

[sanveer]

While I do like/ love Top Gear, I have also noticed that Jeremy Clarson Really doesn't know where to Draw the Line. The Argentinean episode with those SCANDALOUS number places, and hundreds of thousands of comments outrightly racist or politically incorrect to the point of being both insanely juvenile and terribly spiteful should have ensured that Clarkson was thrown out a Long Time ago.

 

Next he will probably start using the 'N' word or talk shit about the Jews and the Holocaust, IF he hasn't already. 

[Nikkor]

Next he will probably start using the 'N' word.

​Oh no, not the "n" word, everybody is annoyed by naggers.

[Damphousse]

 

I have minimal sympathy for any bank...

​I have no recollection of working at any bank where you could call people "nigger" and "slope" and have any hope of having a job Monday morning.  So in that sense every Wall St bank I've worked for is a million times better than this Clarkson piece of garbage.  And really that particular comment was ironic considering...

 

It’s sold around the world for £50m.

​

Your argument is tolerate racial abuse, because... you know... money.  This is better than a bank?  How?

 

General question for the forum...  Where do you guys and gals work where "nigger" and "slope" are okay parts of your vocabulary whether or not you are on the clock?  I always assumed that when I saw people complaining about their "freedom of speech" they were just wasters on the welfare rolls who never had a proper job and didn't realize not being a racist dick was a prerequisite for gainful employment in most of the civilized world.  But now I'm being made to understand you can go around calling people "niggers" on tape and still hold down a job?  Where?  SAE fraternity headquarters?  Okay.  KKK recruiting office?  Sure.  Stormfront forum administrator?  I can see that.  Anywhere else?

 

So less than a week after the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday we have people on the internet complaining about how the world is ending because a rich and powerful white male can't call black people "niggers."  And this message is being brought to you from Berlin of all places.  Wow.

 

Guys this type of behavior isn't tolerated anywhere.  I know it and you know it.  BBC has been around longer than Clarkson and they'll be around long after he is gone.  Tens of thousands of people have spent their lives building the company and the global brand.  No one person has the right to trash all their good work just because some people believe a short term financial reward should take precedence over all else.  That actually is the problem with Wall St banks.  The quarter by quarter mentality would say hey keep this jerk around and let's make £50m.  Where as a privately held family company would say let's take the financial hit for a few years but have an untarnished brand that will last decades... or longer.  Frankly if I was working at the news division of the BBC I really wouldn't appreciate management letting other people working under the BBC moniker run around calling people "niggers" and "slopes."  That kind of behavior tarnishes the whole brand.

 

By the way I know most if not all you guys aren't racist.  But you really have to think about what you are defending.  It really is very aberrant behavior.

[Damphousse]

the future of the world "political correctness" = end of free speech

​There is freedom of speech...  just not freedom from the consequences of speech.  Clarkson can call people "nigger" all day long and still live a life a million times better than my wretched middle class existence.  He just can't do it on BBC.  Clarkson's bigotry doesn't supersede the BBC's freedom of speech.  BBC has the right to say they don't like the word "nigger."  And Clarkson has the right to start his own network and say "nigger" all day long.  He can call it the N-word Network if he so chooses.  Clarkson N-word Network... CNN  for short.

[SleepyWill]

​I have no recollection of working at any bank where you could call people "nigger" and "slope" and have any hope of having a job Monday morning.  So in that sense every Wall St bank I've worked for is a million times better than this Clarkson piece of garbage.  And really that particular comment was ironic considering...

​

Your argument is tolerate racial abuse, because... you know... money.  This is better than a bank?  How?

 

General question for the forum...  Where do you guys and gals work where "nigger" and "slope" are okay parts of your vocabulary whether or not you are on the clock?  I always assumed that when I saw people complaining about their "freedom of speech" they were just wasters on the welfare rolls who never had a proper job and didn't realize not being a racist dick was a prerequisite for gainful employment in most of the civilized world.  But now I'm being made to understand you can go around calling people "niggers" on tape and still hold down a job?  Where?  SAE fraternity headquarters?  Okay.  KKK recruiting office?  Sure.  Stormfront forum administrator?  I can see that.  Anywhere else?

 

So less than a week after the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday we have people on the internet complaining about how the world is ending because a rich and powerful white male can't call black people "niggers."  And this message is being brought to you from Berlin of all places.  Wow.

 

Guys this type of behavior isn't tolerated anywhere.  I know it and you know it.  BBC has been around longer than Clarkson and they'll be around long after he is gone.  Tens of thousands of people have spent their lives building the company and the global brand.  No one person has the right to trash all their good work just because some people believe a short term financial reward should take precedence over all else.  That actually is the problem with Wall St banks.  The quarter by quarter mentality would say hey keep this jerk around and let's make £50m.  Where as a privately held family company would say let's take the financial hit for a few years but have an untarnished brand that will last decades... or longer.  Frankly if I was working at the news division of the BBC I really wouldn't appreciate management letting other people working under the BBC moniker run around calling people "niggers" and "slopes."  That kind of behavior tarnishes the whole brand.

 

By the way I know most if not all you guys aren't racist.  But you really have to think about what you are defending.  It really is very aberrant behavior.

​I've got a secret for you, a horrible dirty little secret that no-one is going to like, but sadly it's true. Everyone in this world holds a view, has said something or done something that will offend you. No not only you Damphousse but each and every person reading this. Jeremy Clarkeson once said nigger. I find this disgusting and reprehensible. I'm sure plenty of stuff I've done or said, you will find disgusting and reprehensible, just like you will have done stuff that I find. Do you see how it works, all you nose pickers out there, you know who you are, you literally make me feel sick. People who speed past primary schools, I would subject you to prison, you are filth and scum. Petty thieves, you nearly bankrupted me in the 80's, prison for you too. The people who push wheelchairs or hang coats on them without asking the permission of the person in the wheelchair, that is no different and no less offensive than if you push someone physically out of your way without looking or talking to them, or just walking up to them and hanging a coat from their head, it's just rude.

Tailgaters, people who hog the middle lane, people who overcharge for their services, people who cough into their hands then touch surfaces that other people touch, people who go to work with the flu, people who cut lines, streakers, people who beat their partners, people who smack their children, people who don't look after their children properly, people who don't disinfect their bins, people who leave vermin attracting waste in their gardens, people who don't clear up dog faeces, people who tax dodge and avoid, benefit fraudsters, people who fart on public transport, people who smoke near kids, people who smoke in public places... I could go on forever!

You are all jerks.

 

or....

 

You can accept that everyone is a jerk, stop focusing in the negative aspects that you do not like about them and instead realise that we are all human beings, and there is an equal amount of good attributes we can list that make me want to shake your hand and give you a hug.

Every human is a complicated mixture of jerks and saints, most people are in the privileged position of being able to keep our foibles to ourselves, presenting only the public image we wish to. 

So what if Jeremy Clarkson said Nigger, does it make him a complete idiot, yes. Does it make him racist, probably, at some level. What would happen if we banned all people who held reprehensible views/said disgusting things/did disgusting things from being in the public eye? No-one would be in the public eye, and that's assuming we go off just your sensibilities dear reader, don't forget, each one of us reacts differently to the different triggers. Some of you may think "speeding past a primary school, what's the big deal", but then maybe you get wound up by my hard acceleration once out in the countryside, or by my overtaking if you will insist on going 40 on a 60mph road, or whatever.

Now I know that some things are worse than others and I think the vast majority of us will agree that nosepickers are not worse than racists, however, each of us ranks these problamatic behaviours differently and none of us is supreme arbitor of what is better or worse. You'd better believe that there are a significant number of people out there who do in fact believe that racism is less of a problem than nosepicking. And who is going to be so arrogant as to declare their ranking of problems the one we should all abide by.

So what am I really saying? Eveyone is a jerk. You are a jerk, I am a jerk. But we are all amazing too. If you are so blind as to be unable to find any redeeming qualities about any human on this earth, then, well, you're a jerk. Each of us is amazing. So go ahead, rant and rage on the internet about Jeremy Clarkson, I know I have, but don't write off everything that is amazing about a person just because you saw their jerk side. And the television he produces is amazing - it may not be to your taste, but it's ok to not like stuff and admit that it's good.

I like top gear, but I don't like hearing Nigger. I have no idea what slope is or refers to, but I assume it's a racist term. I use the word all day every day, so I guess lots of people think I am racist. Fortunately I am a glass half full person, I know Clarkson isn't perfect, but I'm going to enjoy the positive things he does on tv, mostly making me laugh. You glass half empty lot, the "he said Nigger when he thought he wasn't going to be broadcast, therefore sacrifice him to the tabloid gods", you're all jerks and I love you!

[Jimmy]

​I don't know if you can cut it as clear as that. Would you have kept the stones locked up when they got busted in 67? No sympathy for the devil? No gimme shelter?

​eyy??!!

That Is the opposite of what I was saying. The Stones, though creative and popular, were caught doing wrong and were punished for it, just like the average Joe would be (though the way they were victimised was wrong, but that is a different debate). 

The argument this blog is making, and I disagree with, is that Clarkson has allegedly done something wrong, but as he is creative and popular, he should not be punished because that would stiffle his creativity. 

[Damphousse]

 

So what if Jeremy Clarkson said Nigger, does it make him a complete idiot, yes. Does it make him racist, probably, at some level. What would happen if we banned all people who held reprehensible views/said disgusting things/did disgusting things from being in the public eye?

​I dunno?  The world would be a better place?

 

Is it really that hard for a white male with tens of millions of dollars in the bank to not say "nigger" on tape at work?!  If it is that hard they have a problem.  And despite your lengthy post no I have never done anything even close to that reprehensible at work... perhaps because I don't bring in £50 million for my employer.  I am a peasant.  I do as I'm told and I don't jeopardize my employer's good name and brand equity.  And guess what their are billions of people on this planet who are even better than me.  Give them a job.  Why should we preserve the jobs for this handful of bigots?

[Andrew Reid]

the future of the world "political correctness" = end of free speech

Sport used to be so colourful until sportsmen had a personality lobotomy!

And so many defended free speech in France with the Je Suis Charlie meme.

A director of a Scottish football club was just sacked for doing the same, but in a more vivid way.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31875872

It's taking the colour from the world and turning men into little boys, unable to take a risk!

[Andrew Reid]

​Is it really that hard for a white male with tens of millions of dollars in the bank to not say "nigger" on tape at work?!

​It's just a word! A word isn't offensive on it's own, it's how it's used and to whom it's directed.

Clarkson muttered it for comic effect and aimed it at nobody.

It wasn't racist at all.

[Damphousse]

​I don't know if you can cut it as clear as that. Would you have kept the stones locked up when they got busted in 67? No sympathy for the devil? No gimme shelter?

​Well US Cannabis laws are and were unreasonable.  Asking people not to call black people "niggers" is not unreasonable.  And I would prefer Mick Jagger got substance abuse treatment for the amphetamines vs jail time... but that is because I like Mick Jagger and I want him to be happy and healthy and around to make more hits.

 

Frankly the best outcome of all this is for Clarkson to be suspended and learn from it.  He can be funny without being an awful bigot.  I would prefer he rehabilitate himself and come back and make some great TV.

 

I only wish Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were arrested and put into a drug and alcohol treatment program.  If they were they may still be alive and making great music.  Honestly if you love these artists you want them to get help and stop their self destructive behavior.

 

​It's just a word! A word isn't offensive on it's own, it's how it's used and to whom it's directed.

Clarkson muttered it for comic effect and aimed it at nobody.

It wasn't racist at all.

Sorry, that's not your call to make.  You can't have a group of white men sitting around determining what is and is not offensive to black people.  You can't have a group of men sitting around determining what is and is not offensive to women.  All those experiments have been tried and they all failed miserably.  I could understand if black people popped up every week with a new list of offensive words but that simply is not the case.

 

In all likelihood Clarkson will clean up his act and be back on the air making tens of millions.  There are plenty of ways of being funny and edgy without repeatedly getting into this racial stuff or verbal/physical confrontations.

[Cas1]

How is it we can say: your country is worse - without much trouble, and not your race is worse? In my view Both stupid generalisations. Only the latter is less political correct. In the near future though - mark my words - the nationalism will become taboo very soon. It's a EU plan, it's a UN and other globalist endorsers plan, who want to reorder the world and manage it. We all know that money already doesn't consider nations much. Dutch factories where happy to outsource for bigger profits. Under the GATT treaty the big ones even got financial guarantees FOR setting up shop in the cheap east. This is the direction of the political wind.

I find it remarkable that readers here, whom I think highly off, cannot keep the alleged Top Gear host's actions separate from what I think was Andrews main point, that political correctness is killing spontaneous creativity. But maybe everybody already agrees with this? Has anyone experienced it themselves? Do we dare to verbalise our limitations? And if we don't might we dare later when we feel financial secure for instance?

Maybe the pc en censorship is not the level of "Das Leben der Anderen", but frankly, I sense it is heading that direction. Can we do something about it?

[Andrew Reid]

Frankly the best outcome of all this is for Clarkson to be suspended and learn from it.  He can be funny without being an awful bigot.  I would prefer he rehabilitate himself and come back and make some great TV.

I love the irony here. You just called the man "an awful bigot".

I thought you said we must refrain from offending and insulting people as you claim Clarkson is doing!

I only wish Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were arrested and put into a drug and alcohol treatment program.  If they were they may still be alive and making great music.  Honestly if you love these artists you want them to get help and stop their self destructive behavior.

A Hendrix without drugs would not have made great music.

Sorry, that's not your call to make.

​It is actually.

It's all our own call as to what we say or don't say.

Especially when it comes to artistic expression. You keep forgetting Clarkson was making a TV show in-character, and not using racial slurs on the street.

He's never going to be a role model for children to look up to, a shiny white teethed Mr Nice. Problem is most of these supposably ideal role models are anti-freedom of speech whilst pretending to be the opposite, which makes them hypocrites. And when I have kids I don't want their role models to be humourless hypocrites who are incapable of taking a risk.

[mtheory]

I don't think most people realize just how common these "fracas" incidents are...here's a David O'Russell set for some context... 

[Andrew Reid]

Great example.

And that's why you don't want silly nannying BBC management saying things like "one more strike and you're out"

[Lammy]

I think was Andrews main point, that political correctness is killing spontaneous creativity. But maybe everybody already agrees with this? Has anyone experienced it themselves? Do we dare to verbalise our limitations? And if we don't might we dare later when we feel financial secure for instance?

​All of my favourite people are still making some creative, edgy, stuff. 

Even Jeremy Clarkson is still around despite final warnings way after with Argentina and his twitter posts. I bet he'll come out of this suspension alright especially as I doubt Oisin would press charges for verbal abuse. 

Katie Hopkins. Josie Cunningham. All have perfect outlet. Leigh Francis is still working fine today.  Dapper Laughs got rid because he caved in, and he was just a shittier version of Keith Lemon.

This "political correctness"  killing spontaneous creative is an imaginary problem, and an easy excuse to cover up their own inadequacies.  Just step up yo game and be better.

 

I don't think most people realize just how common these "fracas" incidents are...here's a David O'Russell set for some context... 

O'Russell and Scott Rudin are the Producers and they are known to be far more outspoken and brash in their methods. They make great films and have tension and all that, sure.

Remember when George Clooney had an actual physical altercation with O'Russell and said they'd never work with each other again? Could say the same for Clarkson and Cohen- who knows!

[Pascal Garnier]

​It's just a word! A word isn't offensive on it's own, it's how it's used and to whom it's directed.

Clarkson muttered it for comic effect and aimed it at nobody.

It wasn't racist at all.

​Very enlightening to read this from you, the administrator and owner of this site.
I completely and wholeheartedly disagree with you.  
If you don't see the problem with any white person saying that word (yes : WHO says the word DOES matter), then there's very little to say.  
Even behind closed doors or without a black person in sight.  Apparently to you it's OK to say it when there's no fear for the consequences.  
If Clarkson is the big guy you claim him to be, let him say it for comic effect in Brixton.  And see what big guy he really is.
You can't use a derogatory term like that like it's nothing and then be surprised people react when you try to laugh it off.  
This has nothing to do with political correctness, which seems to have become the cluster term to justify all kinds of bigotry.
 

[Andrew Reid]

No political correctness is a cluster term to deny all kinds of creative expression, especially when it's humour.