Jeremy Clarkson has realised he made an oopsie when he told the world he literally dreams of Meghan Markle being punished while she’s naked. But the fact that he’s shocked this revelation was received so poorly is part of the fkn problem.
The Top Gear host took to Twitter to respond to the backlash he faced for his vile column about Markle, in which he said he hates her “on a cellular level”.
“Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it,” he wrote in a tweet on Tuesday morning.
“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.”
https://twitter.com/Gaber205/status/1604834893183291396?s=20&t=ba_3PfHkzov_1OAXWlJWsw
There are two key things to note about this tweet.
The first is that Clarkson never actually said sorry or apologised for his misogyny. Instead, he said he was shocked at the reaction it received, which is what he perceives as the issue here — not his words, but our upset at them. It’s giving “I’m sorry YOU felt that way”.
The fact that he didn’t anticipate the backlash, that he fully believed it was acceptable to publish what he did, is part of the problem here: this normalised, entitled misogyny is what keeps a culture of abuse towards women alive. Especially given Clarkson was called out and still refused to acknowledge the harm of his words, instead dismissing them as just “clumsy”.
Secondly, Clarkson then said he’ll be “more careful” in the future. More careful as in… he’ll make sure that next time he wants to say misogynistic shit, he’ll do so behind closed doors? Yeah, not exactly reassuring.
It’s hard to take such a non-apology in good faith when it refuses to acknowledge the actual issue at hand.
This is not an apology. You’re horrified you are by the reaction to YOUR WORDS? way to make it about you. It wasn’t a “clumsy reference” you DELIBERATELY detailed how you would like to see Meghan publicly abused and brutalized. Own that. Apologize to Meghan & resign.
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) December 19, 2022
“Clumsy” is accidentally bumping into furniture on your way out of a room.
It’s not carefully penning down how much you hate a woman on a “cellular level” (who you don’t even know), sending off your carefully worded hate-mail to a national newspaper and them printing it— Liana Jacob ܠ̤ܝܐܺܢܺܐ (@LianaJacob) December 19, 2022
The Game of Thrones reference was indeed clumsy and anyone who remembers the scene will agree how very upsetting & disturbing it was. Saying you hated her more than a child murderer was the part that was most chilling. No matter what you think of Meghan, she doesn’t deserve that.
— Sam Dowler (@samdowler) December 19, 2022
In case you missed it, Jeremy Clarkson published a wildly misogynistic column in UK tabloid The Sun on Sunday, after the release of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s documentary Harry & Meghan.
The couple’s series argues Markle received so much hate because of misogynoir — the specific brand of hatred and contempt Black women face — and Clarkson’s column seems to have proven it right.
Literally gobsmacked at the utterly vile and disgusting comments written about Meghan Markle by Jeremy Clarkson in the Sun. What an utter piece of trash he is…what is it with these type of men that triggers them so? pic.twitter.com/iLpzIilTlm
— Dom Joly (@domjoly) December 18, 2022
Clarkson’s cursed article proudly displayed a shitshow of woman-hating rhetoric that lumped Markle in with actual serial killer Rose West.
“I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level,” Clarkson wrote about Markle.
“At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.
“Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way.”
Because apparently being a Black woman in Buckingham Palace is just as offensive as murdering women and children.
Jeremy Clarkson’s vile and abusive hatred is directed at three women:
Meghan Markle, feminist & campaigner for social good;
Nicola Sturgeon, feminist & first leader of Scotland;
Rose West, serial murderer & torturer of women.
The comparison is nonsensical and disgraceful.
— Dr Charlotte Proudman (@DrProudman) December 18, 2022
Imagine openly admitting you fantasise about a woman being brutalised in public. You couldn’t waterboard that shit out of me.
Is it any wonder Meghan Markle is scared? It’s terrifying knowing there are men out there like Jeremy Clarkson who will openly admit to sitting up at night fantasising about violence against women – and think it’s perfectly acceptable. It’s not. And something needs to be done.
— Courtney Pochin (@courtneypochin) December 18, 2022
Clarkson also claimed Prince Harry was a dim but nice guy who was then seduced by Markle with “some vivid bedroom promises to turn him into a warrior of woke”.
Is it weird that Clarkson constantly imagined sexual undertones when he displayed his hatred for Markle? Yes, but it’s not surprising given the fetishisation and over-sexualisation Black women are constantly subjected to by creepy old white men who obsess over them.
It’s also worth noting that in Clarkson’s mind, Harry is a puppet with no mind of his own. Love how men who support their wives immediately are denied their agency by other misogynistic men! I wonder what that says about their own treatment of women!
This ‘hatred’ Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson claim to feel for Meghan Markle- while lying awake at night imaging her naked- is overt sexual obsession. It’s staggering that this is being played out publicly.
— Sarah Kendall (@Sarah_Kendall) December 18, 2022
Like I said, he has proven the documentary and Markle herself right. And it seems those who don’t live up King Charles‘ ass would agree.
That Jeremy Clarkson article about Meghan Markle really says a lot more about him than it does about her. He needs help.
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) December 18, 2022
Meghan Markle looked straight into a camera and told tabloid publishers they were making people want to kill her. Days later The Sun runs an article where a well known media figure fantasizes about committing sexual violence against her. Like what the fuck do you even say?
— Henry VIII (@SussexHenryVIII) December 18, 2022
If it’s true that Camilla just had lunch with Jeremy Clarkson this week, right before he published *that*, then well done to the lot of them for confirming everything the Harry & Meghan doco said was going on between the institution & the media over in the UK.
— Jess McGuire (@jessmcguire) December 18, 2022
Towards the end of the column, Jeremy Clarkson mourned the new generation of young people who will believe Markle’s ~lies~.
He aired his dismay that kids will think *gasp* the royals — who kept slaves, valued blood purity, colonised nations and believe they have a divine right to rule over others — may not actually be nice people?!?!
Jeremy Clarkson having more of a problem with Meghan Markle than he does with Prince Andrew tells you everything you need to know about the man
— RD Hale (@RickyDHale) December 18, 2022
“One day soon, my generation will all be dead, and we will be replaced by a new bunch who are growing up believing that [King] Charles and [Prince] William and Co are bullies who are waited on hand and foot by slaves, eunuchs and spin doctors,” he wrote.
That’s right. The future is now, old man. Hopefully your misogyny dies with you.
