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

[LPG]

​That's what you made it into, to justify someone else's racism.I'm done with this site.

Maybe no need to quit this site and Andrew's good work. I also don't agree with his tolerance for racist remarks, but there's nothing wrong with a good argument. Having a good argument is one of the good old English virtues we should uphold at any cost, I think.

[rtwomey]

I can't understand how anyone can justify what Clarkson did. Assaulting a co-worker and calling them a "lazy Irish cunt" should not be tolerated. As an Irish person who works below the line I'm pleased to see how the BBC have responded. Film and TV crews work long hard hours, there's no way they should be subjected to abuse.

[Lammy]

"It's justified because Clarkson makes a lot of money. He was drunk and stressed, who hasn't messed up? BBC owe me my beloved Top Gear!  PS: Political correctness fault, just a laugh guys eh lolool! " 

I like Andrew's camera reviews. Saved me lots of money, I'm grateful thanks. Just gonna disagree with the article and the ethics here though. 

[Brian Williams]

​That's what you made it into, to justify someone else's racism.I'm done with this site.

Agreed, this article and its comments have been a bit of a revelation.

[Andrew Reid]

If you guys want a instant ban from the forum implying I condone racial abuse is a good way to go about getting one. Some people on this thread should be genuinely ashamed of themselves. You're abusing the site owner while condemning abuse. It's hypocritical to say the least.

Until the BBC publish the facts none of you have any justification in saying there was an assault or racial abuse.

That's a rumour put out by The Mirror. A tabloid. An anti Clarkson one.

[mtheory]

Repeat after me:

"Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me".

Now breathe out...

 

[Andrew Reid]

All we have on a forum are words.

Good job as there might have been fisticuffs otherwise!

[Damphousse]

Louis CK is one of the most popular, famous, US comedians of all time. These are some of his lines:

* on Sarah Palin:  “fucking jackoff cunt-face jazzy wondergirl” who “has a family of Chinese poor people living in her cunt hole.”

* on people who design fountains: "all fountain-sculptors are pedophiles"

* on homosexuals, if every time he mowed the lawn two men were blowing each other on it: "Aww—come on, I gotta cut around you faggots every Sunday." 

* on the 'the N-word': "that's just white people getting away with saying nigger. Don't hide behind the first letter like a faggot."

He's also made fun of rape, and has discussed shitting on people's faces.

He has a show on a mainstream television network in the USA.

Clarkson didn't hit anybody, he just yelled and said bad words.

All those who insinuated he committed "assault", prior to any evidence, be ashamed of yourself. 

You PC cunts are the problem with this world.

Andrew is 100% right.

​Louis CK is a self deprecating Mexican.  Yes, believe it or not he is given a bit more latitude in certain areas when compared to mean spirited grumpy old white guys from South Yorkshire.

For filmmakers you guys are terrible about picking up on the subtleties of society.  Which is a shame.  A good film is subtle or explores subtleties.  It isn't a hamfisted bulldozer that ignores the intricacies of human interactions.  I mean really?  Is this the amount of thought you put into your films?

And yeah if all he ever did was yell at someone once you know full well he wouldn't have even been reprimanded.  The fact that you are pretending he didn't do that other awful stuff tells us exactly what your agenda is.

 

I think "behave yourself" is a British mantra, this constant obsession about shooting down those who do not conform to a very rigid form of behavior. Isn't this why Britain had a strong punk movement and so many great rock bands in response, - most people hate being put in a straight jacket. 

​So... being asked not to say "nigger" repeatedly on video tape at work is what you consider being "put in a straight jacket"?!  WTF?!

[dan]

The irony is Clarkson told the producer he was going to have him fired.

He can make offensive class, gender, sexuality and race based jokes and statements (in and out of character), verbally abuse a co-worker, psychologically threaten a co-worker but it's ok because some people think he is funny. But if someone can't supply the dinner he wants they should get there matching orders. No wonder he looks so sheepish about this given all the second chances he's had. The BBC probably spend a fortune trying to keep him out of trouble and scooping up when he does make a mess.

I don't think anyone is abusing the site owner or JC, it's not like anyone has made the 'joke' of having you or him shot in front of your family, or suggested your sexuality is questionable, or your place of birth makes you inferior, etc etc etc. This is run of the mill material for this hero of free speech and authenticity.

[Lammy]

No need to censor/ban because no one is abusing Andrew nor accusing him of racism. Only that he is turning a blind eye to the actions of Jeremy Clarkson (on and off character).

See guys, this is why we don't discuss politics at the dinner table!

[SleepyWill]

Interesting! While we share the history of slave trade and colonization, in our society it is not so consciously associated to the upper class. Maybe the social divisions within England were a bit more outspoken. 

Elitism seems to be a dreaded notion, nowadays, but there were times when also the idealists among socialist movements strived for education, enlightment and good behaviour. 

I guess your remark on the oxbridge society has some truth, but does it validate the strive for vulgarity and bad taste so evidentl in display in programs like Top Smear?

​Not being English, I can only look in from the outside but it seems that in the era of slave trading, the lower classes and merchant classes generally couldn't afford plantations, restricting the ownership of slaves to the upper classes.

Elitism is a dreaded notion, as bad as sexism or racism. You are not a better person than anyone else because of your ancestry. To believe otherwise is elitist. It has nothing to do with education, idealists, socialist movements or good behaviour. Indeed, some of the most obnoxious, ill mannered individuals I have ever met belonged to a royal family and believe you me, were some of the most elitist people of the face of the planet.

Bad taste is in the eye of the beholder. Your opinion is no more or less valid than mine. You find top gear vulgar and in bad taste. Well done on having an opinion. I don't share your opinion. Not kindly stop trying to convince me that I am wrong, or am somehow worse than you because of the light entertainment I enjoy. It's ill mannered and shows a lack of empathy and understanding that the world doesn't revolve around you that is, quite frankly disturbing - and I would suggest, a more pertinant problem to solve in the world that white men who say nigger. Go watch Philip Blooms latest series, The Wonder List, and get a bit of perspective in your life as to the importance of a bit of paper with a family crest on it.

[nathanleebush]

Uggh totally. We live in such an offended culture these days, where you have to apologize to just about any group that might have possibly had their feelings hurt. The American left has completely succumbed to this identity politics in a bid for votes. It's putting rational people in a bit of a bind, as the American right has become batshit crazy and lost any relationship to reality or science. But the left, which once had a set of proactive ideas and values, now just stands for aggrieved masses who feel they are owed the world and uniquely entitled to never feel slighted. 

I remember the same politically correct 'multi kulti' bullshit when I lived in Berlin a decade ago. 

[dan]

If jeeza does get fired, i'm sure he'll get snapped up by someone. But i wonder how many prime-time brands will really want to be seen sponsoring his crass attempts at edgy humour. DAVE is 1 thing, ITV/CHANNEL4/SKY is quite another - he'll be on a much shorter leash and will blow it sooner or later at which point he'll need his own TV channel to deliver witty insights/incites to his fans - Al JEZeera anyone :-)

[dan]

Uggh totally. We live in such an offended culture these days, where you have to apologize to just about any group that might have possibly had their feelings hurt. The American left has completely succumbed to this identity politics in a bid for votes. It's putting rational people in a bit of a bind, as the American right has become batshit crazy and lost any relationship to reality or science. But the left, which once had a set of proactive ideas and values, now just stands for aggrieved masses who feel they are owed the world and uniquely entitled to never feel slighted. 

I remember the same politically correct 'multi kulti' bullshit when I lived in Berlin a decade ago. 

​Uggh, yourself. "'multi kulti' bullshit". I guess Berlin really missed out on something when you left - but the history of that city as a centre for progressive politics, the avant-garde and artistic movements would suggest what they've missed on with you they have seen before and can live without.

[mtheory]

​So... being asked not to say "nigger" repeatedly on video tape at work is what you consider being "put in a straight jacket"?!  WTF?!

What has this got to do with what we are discussing? I was talking about Clarkson being fired for shouting at an inept colleague. That is not abuse, if you want to see abuse see sweatshops in Asia. Everyone needs to grow a thicker skin.

[Lammy]

If you want to argue about the easily offended and creativity, this video by Stewart Lee and religious protesters on the BBC is worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9EUe8jNr6o 

 

I was talking about Clarkson being fired for shouting at an inept colleague. 

​

I'm on team underdog "inept colleague" Oisin. Clarkson's Sun article about being 'an old dinosaur' really reads like an admission of guilt. Let's see what happens these next few days...

[Jimmy]

If you guys want a instant ban from the forum implying I condone racial abuse is a good way to go about getting one.

​Wouldn't that stifle their creativity? How very PC

[Jimmy]

I was talking about Clarkson being fired for shouting at an inept colleague.

​Seems like you and Andrew are fine to use media assumptions that work in the favour of the article (eg, the guy is inept and it was just verbal), but those that don't (eg, he split the guy's lip) are just tabloid nonsense.

Maybe this should just be closed until some resemblance of the truth is revealed.

[SleepyWill]

If you want to argue about the easily offended and creativity, this video by Stewart Lee and religious protesters on the BBC is worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9EUe8jNr6o 

 

​

I'm on team underdog "inept colleague" Oisin. Clarkson's Sun article about being 'an old dinosaur' really reads like an admission of guilt. Let's see what happens these next few days...

​Stewart Lee is very good... but he is a comedian. Try not to mistake his brand of light entertainment for philosophy though, for the same reason that you wouldn't actually try to survive in the wilderness "Bear Grills style".

I would have also though that the way that Clarkson was the person who reported the incident to the BBC demonstrated his feelings of guilt over the incident way before his sun article.

[SleepyWill]

​Seems like you and Andrew are fine to use media assumptions that work in the favour of the article (eg, the guy is inept and it was just verbal), but those that don't (eg, he split the guy's lip) are just tabloid nonsense.

Maybe this should just be closed until some resemblance of the truth is revealed.

Call me suspicious, but the unnamed witness who reported that he hit the guy and split his lip, also knows that he went to A&E, which hospital he went to and what he was treated for (dizziness). He is also the person who reported the "lazy irish cunt" quote and the 40 minutes quote. Clarkson reported the incident himself and the only things he denies are things this witness has said.