After being ousted from his own show for repeated abhorrent behavior, Jeremy Clarkson is now at the center of a racial discrimination lawsuit.
The “Top Gear” producer who was verbally and physically attacked by Clarkson last March is suing the BBC and the former motoring show host for over $150,000 for racial discrimination and personal injury.
Lawyers for Clarkson and the BBC attended a closed-door hearing with Oisin Tymon’s legal team at a London employment tribunal on Friday, BBC News reported.
The lawsuit centers around the alleged attack on Tymon by Clarkson, during which he spent 20 minutes verbally abusing the producer before launching a 30 second physical assault on him over a lack of hot food on location while filming in North Yorkshire, England.
The assault ended up being the final nail in the coffin of Clarkson’s long career at the BBC, which had been marred by politically incorrect remarks and erratic behavior.
The longtime “Top Gear” host was fired by the British network in March following an internal investigation.
He has since signed a three-season deal for a new show on Amazon, along with former co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May. Amazon beat out Netflix in the negotiations, who was initially interested in picking up the trio behind one of the world’s most successful and popular shows for car fanatics.
Tymon officially returned to work at the BBC in May and is still an employee. However, it is understood that the producer has not worked since the incident.
BBC Radio 2 DJ
In October 2014, Clarkson and his crew hit the headlines when they were forced to flee Argentina after being attacked by local residents for driving a car with the license plate H982 FLK, a suspected reference to the British victory over Argentina in the Falkland Islands war of 1982. Clarkson insisted it was a coincidence.
Other controversies that have occurred over the years include making homophobic comments, making a mock Nazi salute while talking about German cars, joking about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes, making fun of Indian culture, and describing a Ferrari F430 as “special needs.”
“Top Gear” first aired in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show before being relaunched by the BBC in 2002 with hosts Clarkson, Hammond and May, along with Test Driver mascot, The Stig. It aired in the U.S. on BBC America.