Over 20,000 people have signed a petition for Jeremy Clarkson to remain as the host of ITV’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? following his controversial Meghan Markle column.
Last month, the 62 year old quickly became a hot topic after writing a heavily criticised column in The Sun where he said he “hated” the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level”.
After receiving backlash for his disrespectful choice of words, publication Variety reported the streaming service Amazon which lead them to “cut ties” with the Grand Tour host.
READ MORE: James May says he’s having ‘difficult time’ as co-star Jeremy Clarkson ‘axed’ from Prime
Following his drop from the popular Amazon show, many have also questioned whether Jeremy should remain as host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
(Image: ITV)
And according to to bookmaker William Hill, Harry Potter star Warwick Davis is currently a front runner to take his place.
Despite the backlash, Free Speech Union have created a petition for Clarkson to remain on the programme.
The petition on Change.org reads: “If people make mistakes and then apologise for them, we should give them the benefit of the doubt, not seek to destroy their livelihoods and turn them into social pariahs.”
The petition continued: “Finally, we would ask you to bear in mind the price Jeremy Clarkson has already paid for his remarks.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Amazon has indicated it will not commission any more seasons of Clarkson’s Farm or The Grand Tour and his Sun column has not appeared in the newspaper again, suggesting he has lost that, too.
“Is he to be punished even further by losing his only other main source of income? The punishment is already completely disproportionate to the crime, without you compounding his humiliation.”
Sharing insight on Jeremy’s future with the network, head of ITV, Carlyn McCall, stated that Clarkson’s views were “in no way endorsed by ITV”.
Meanwhile the network’s boss Kevin Lygo said: “I would say what he writes in a newspaper column… We have no control over what he says.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Although Jeremy apologised for his column, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released a statement which highlighted their dissatisfaction towards the presenter’s response.
The couple said: “While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny.
“Unless each of his other pieces were also written “in a hurry”, as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
