Jeremy Clarkson was suspended from his popular automotive show Top Gear for a “fracas” with a BBC producer. There will be an investigation, and the BBC is reporting no other members of the show’s cast or crew have been suspended.
Top Gear already missed a broadcast, but the networka said it is standing by its star.
This is not the first time Clarkson and Top Gear have made outrageous headlines. Not too long ago, the cast and crew were “forced to flee” Argentina after Clarkson was seen driving a car with a license tag that called back to the 1982 Falklands War. Funny, perhaps, to the Brits, but Argentina responded with outrage.
And, of course, there was the accusations of racism following a show in which Clarkson repeated a popular children’s rhyme that, at one point in history, contained a racial slur. In outtakes of that segment, Clarkson seems to actually say the word, which, after repeated viewings on social media had him labeled a racist. The TV star then issued a stolid and grave apology for the “appearance” of mumbling that word, a word Clarkson said, he “loathes.”
Of that incident, Clarkson said he was “mortified” and “horrified”. The statement was well received by some but not by all, and the increased scrutiny of the show resulted in increased scrutiny on Clarkson. The latest incident is being framed by some as a pattern of misbehavior.
That’s a lesson for anyone that depends on PR for their career or marketing efforts. Screw up once, and you can find forgiveness. Screw up again and you’ll find forgiveness quickly tabled. It’s a tough reality that, once you are in the spotlight, everyone expects you to be human…until you are. Then that spotlight only serves to magnify your supposed sins.
No details yet on the “fracas” or the suspension, but, for the time being, Clarkson serves as the latest lesson of just how hot it can get in the limelight.
