Jeremy Clarkson Responds to Outrage Over His Meghan Markle Article

British reality TV personality Jeremy Clarkson has apologized for his column about Meghan Markle published in The Sun this weekend. Clarkson wrote an angry diatribe about the Duchess of Sussex, saying that he dreamed of the day she would be made to walk naked through the streets “while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.” After the widespread outrage over the article, Clarkson tweeted his apology.

“Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it,” the 62-year-old Top Gear host wrote. “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 the future.” Clarkson’s apology has not over well with many readers, who feel he still hasn’t answered for the implied violence of his article.

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

Clarkson’s column was removed from The Sun‘s website after it received over 12,000 complaints, according to a report by The Independent. A source from The Sun told reporters that Clarkson had been the one to ask for the article to be removed. It was condemned by many pundits as misogynistic and racist, as well as simply hateful. This cast doubt on Clarkson’s assertion that “everyone who’s my age thinks the same way.”

Clarkson’s article was apparently a response to Markle and Prince Harry’s new Netflix original series, which details their early love affair and their struggles to gain legitimacy as a couple. The docu-series gave fresh insight into how Markle and Prince Harry say they were attacked by the British press and not supported by the royal family.

Clarkson is considered by many to be one of Markle’s most fierce attackers, though the outrage over this article clearly exceeds most of his previous remarks. Among those to condemn this article were the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as well as Clarkson’s own daughter, Emily. She wrote on Instagram: “I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.”

Clarkson is best known for hosting British TV shows about cars, including Top Gear and The Grand Tour. So far, there’s no sign that this wave of outrage will impact Clarkson’s weekly op-ed column routine.