British tabloid The Sun has finally apologised for Jeremy Clarkson‘s deeply misogynistic column about Meghan Markle. Sure, but why on earth was it published in the first place?
The UK’s independent press regulator IPSO received more than 20,800 complaints about the column after it was published on December 16.
In a statement on December 23, The Sun acknowledged the “large number of complaints” to IPSO and the “strong response” the column led to. Strong response is one way of putting it.
“In last Saturday’s Sun, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a comment article about the Duchess of Sussex,” it said.
“Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher, we realise that with free expression comes responsibility.
“We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry.”
The Sun then cited a number of campaigns it had participated in, which it said had “helped change Britain for the better”.
But it didn’t actually apologise directly to Meghan Markle.
The Sun ‘regrets’ publishing Clarkson column. No apology to Meghan Markle, of course. Their only regret here is that they got called out for publishing violent misogyny. Choosing to cite their previous work with survivors of abuse only compounds their failure in the first place. https://t.co/HutvCnzxAi
— David Challen (@David_Challen) December 23, 2022
Clarkson wrote his vile column in the wake of Netflix’s Harry & Meghan documentary dropping.
“I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level,” he wrote.
For context: Rose West is a convicted serial killer.
After that horrendous statement, the column somehow got worse.
Clarkson described a fucked up fantasy of watching Markle be paraded naked down the street while people flung literal shit.
“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,” he wrote.
After it received swift backlash, Clarkson released a statement about the column.
He didn’t apologise to Markle but said he “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 next time.”
According to The Huffington Post, Clarkson’s article was removed from The Sun‘s website on Monday.
When you search for the column online, the headline now reads: “In light of Jeremy Clarkon’s tweet he has asked us to take last week’s column down”.
Instead of the original column there’s a copy of his twitter statement.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon — one of Clarkson’s other hated women — previously slammed the column as “deeply misogynistic and just downright awful”.
“The overwhelming emotion I have for men like Jeremy Clarkson is pity,” she continued.
“I can’t imagine what it must be like to be so consumed and distorted by hate of other people, and in this case it appears women in particular, that you end up writing that toxic, vile abuse.”
A bunch of British MPs — 64 to be precise — also wrote a letter to The Sun‘s editor on Tuesday, prior to the publication’s apology.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the violent misogynistic language against The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle,” the letter said.
They welcome the article’s retraction but called for an “unreserved apology” to Meghan Markle.
“We further demand definitive action is taken to ensure no article like this is ever published again.”
Somehow, I doubt it.
