Jeremy Clarkson Scandal: ITV Boss Says “There Is No Place” For His Meghan Markle Remarks On Her Channel
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
EXCLUSIVE: ITV CEO Carolyn McCall has said there is “no place on ITV” for Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle comments and stressed that Who Wants to be a Millionaire? “does not provide a platform for his opinions.”
In a letter sent on December 22 and published for the first time today by Deadline, McCall responded to Scottish lawmaker John Nicolson’s call to drop Clarkson from his Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hosting duties, which Clarkson has been helming for five years. Scroll to the bottom for the full letter.
More from Deadline
“Your concerns are completely understandable,” wrote McCall. “Everyone at ITV is very aware of our responsibilities as a Public Service Broadcaster and I’d like to be clear that the comments made were Jeremy Clarkson’s own and are in no way endorsed by ITV. There is no place on ITV for the comments made in that article.”
Deadline has revealed McCall’s letter as ITV weighs up Clarkson’s future on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. Only one series – due to be filmed next month and air over the summer – is left on his current contract, although ITV Director of Programs Kevin Lygo said he would continue as host during a press briefing in late December, around the time McCall sent her letter.
The December 16 column, which was retracted by The Sun and is the British newspaper regulator’s most complained-about article of all time, included the former Top Gear host saying he “dreamed of the day when [Markle] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’,” in a callback to a Game of Thrones scene.
McCall, who hasn’t made any public statements about the former Top Gear host’s column, said Who Wants to be a Millionaire? “is not a platform for [Clarkson’s] opinions,” while stressing that he is not employed by the broadcaster.
Nicolson, who has long campaigned on issues in the UK culture and media space, had written to McCall in the aftermath of the column’s publication with a call to drop Clarkson, whose comments he said went against ITV’s Statement of Programme Policy and Social Purpose Strategy. Around 50 MPs sent a similar open letter to the Rupert Murdoch-owned The Sun on 18 December, which swiftly retracted the column.
As ITV mulls Clarkson’s future, Amazon Prime Video is likely to part ways with the 62-year-old once the current seasons of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm run down next year, according to a Variety report earlier this week.
Clarkson issued a lengthy apology for the column on Monday, which was roundly rejected in a statement by Markle and her husband Prince Harry.
The letter in full
Dear Mr Nicolson,
Thank you for your recent letter regarding the comments made by Jeremy Clarkson in his Sun newspaper column.
Your concerns are completely understandable. ITV has no editorial control over Jeremy Clarkson’s independent journalistic output in The Sun or anywhere else he chooses to publish.
Everyone at ITV is very aware of our responsibilities as a Public Service Broadcaster and I’d like to be clear that the comments made were Jeremy Clarkson’s own and are in no way endorsed by ITV. There is no place on ITV for the comments made in that article.
It is also worth adding that Jeremy Clarkson is not an ITV employee and that when he appears on ITV it is as a quiz show host on a show which does not provide a platform for his opinions.
I hope that reassures you about ITV’s position and thank you again for making your concerns known.
Kind regards,
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
