Jeremy Clarkson on Monday said he was “horrified” after fierce backlash to an op-ed he wrote for The Sun in which he said he hates Meghan Markle “on a cellular level” and fantasized that she would be marched through the streets and shamed like Cersei Lannister in “Game of Thrones.”
“Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it,” Clarkson tweeted. “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.”
In Clarkson’s Saturday column, titled “One day, Harold the glove puppet will tell the truth about A Woman Talking B*ks,” he wrote of Markle: “I hate her. Not like I hate [Scottish National Party leader] Nicola Sturgeon or [British serial killer] Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.”
The 62-year-old went on to say he “dreamt of the day when crowds throw lumps of excrement” at the Duchess of Sussex, referencing a “Game of Thrones” scene involving a naked Cersei Lannister being paraded through the streets.
Clarkson’s comments came just days after the last three episodes of Prince Harry and Markle’s Netflix docuseries aired, during which Markle outlined the abuse she says she’s faced in the last few years.
The former “Top Gear” presenter’s column has been heavily criticized by several public figures, including Carol Vorderman, Kathy Burke, and John Bishop.
Clarkson’s comments even recieved attention from London mayor Sadiq Khan: “As Jeremy Clarkson should well know – words have consequences. The words in his piece are no joke — they’re dangerous and inexcusable. We are in an epidemic of violence against women and girls and men with powerful voices must do better than this.”
On Sunday, Clarkson’s daughter Emily Clarkson, an author and podcast host, said on Instagram that she also didn’t agree with her father’s comments.
“My views are and have always been clear when it comes to misogyny, bullying and the treatment of women by the media,” wrote Emily Clarkson. “I want to make it very clear that 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.”
