LONDON (AP) 鈥� British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson said Monday he is 鈥渉orrified to have caused so much hurt鈥� with a scathing column about Prince Harry's wife, Meghan, that attracted a flood of complaints.
Clarkson, who hosts motoring show 鈥淭he Grand Tour鈥� on Amazon, wrote in tabloid newspaper The Sun that he hated the former Meghan Markle 鈥渙n a cellular level鈥� and dreamed of her being paraded naked through British towns 鈥渨hile the crowds chant 鈥楽hame!鈥� and throw lumps of excrement at her.鈥�
Media watchdog the Independent Press Standards Organization said it had received more than 12,000 complaints about the column by Monday 鈥� close to the total number of complaints it received in all of 2021.
The column was removed from The Sun's website on Monday.
Clarkson, who made his name as the combative host of the BBC car show 鈥淭op Gear,鈥� said the public shaming image was 鈥渁 clumsy reference鈥� to a scene in 鈥淕ame of Thrones.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future,鈥� he wrote on Twitter.
Clarkson鈥檚 column followed the release of a six-part Netflix documentary about Harry and Meghan鈥檚 acrimonious split from the British royal family. The couple quit royal duties and moved to California in 2020, citing a lack of support from the palace and racist press treatment of Meghan, who is biracial.
Clarkson鈥檚 column was condemned by public figures including Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who called it 鈥渄eeply misogynist and just downright awful and horrible.鈥�
Clarkson鈥檚 daughter Emily Clarkson posted on Instagram that 鈥淚 stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.鈥�
Asked about the article, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that 鈥渇or everyone in public life, language matters.鈥� He added that 鈥淚 absolutely don鈥檛 believe that Britain is a racist country.鈥�
The Associated Press
