More than 30,000 people have signed a petition pleading with the cancellation of Jeremy Clarkson. After publishing a critical opinion piece on Meghan Markle in The Sun, the former host of Top Gear and Clarkson’s Farm star has been trying to contain the damage. He said that he “dreams of the day” when the Duchess of Sussex is “made to parade naked through the streets of Britain” and that she is “throw lumps of excrement at her” by bystanders.
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Naturally, the 62-year-old faced a fierce backlash as a result of the remarks. Although he has now written a groveling apology for the piece, he has received numerous requests to be permanently banned from television. A counter-movement, however, has now been launched in an effort to prevent his cancellation. The Free Speech Union has launched a petition on Change.org in an effort to garner as many signatures as possible. And that petition is racking up a lot of signatures as we speak.
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30,106 people have signed the online petition as of this writing. The petition was sent to Dame Carolyn McCall, the CEO of ITV, by the Free Speech Union. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has had Jeremy Clarkson as host for years on ITV, and it was one of the shows that was urged to fire him after reading The Sun editorial.
While Clarkson’s future at ITV is still uncertain, Prime Video has stated that the presenter’s tenure with the streaming service will expire after his contracts are up and the already commissioned seasons of his programmes have aired. The company will release the second season of Clarkson’s Farm on February 10 and will be followed by a third season, so this doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty more Clarkson content in the upcoming months.