Jeremy Clarkson’s column on the Duchess of Sussex has become the Independent Press Standards Organization’s most-trafficked article of all time.
The regulator said the piece, which has since been removed from The Sun’s website at Clarkson’s request, had received more than 17,500 complaints as of 9am on Tuesday.
“We will follow our usual processes to examine the complaints we have received. This will take longer than usual because of the volume of complaints,” an IPSO spokesperson said, adding that the number of complaints would be subject to change, reports Sky.
The figure also surpassed the total number of complaints received by the media regulator in 2021 of 14,355.
It comes as more than 60 MPs have written to the editor of The Sun condemning the column “in the strongest terms” – after the presenter said Meghan should “parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain”, reports Sky.
The letter, submitted by Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, urged the publication to take action against Clarkson.
It said the former Top Gear host’s “hateful” article about Meghan Markle helped create an “unacceptable climate of hate and violence.”
His column, published on Sunday, said he was “dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”, reports Sky.
The comments were met with backlash, with Clarkson’s daughter Emily as well as many others speaking out against him.
Clarkson responded to the backlash with a statement pleading to be more careful going forward.
However, this was criticized for not including an apology.
In the letter to The Sun editor Victoria Newton, Nokes and other MPs called on the newspaper to take action against the presenter.
‘Enough is enough’
“We are horrified at the recent article by Jeremy Clarkson in your publication. As parliamentarians of every persuasion, we condemn in the strongest terms the violent misogynistic language against the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle,” the letter read, reports Sky.
Clarkson should not be ‘allowed back’ on TV
SNP MP John Nicolson also wrote to ITV bosses after the “grotesque comments”.
In his own letter, which was also shared on Twitter, Nicolson said Clarkson’s article “crossed the line” and felt the broadcaster should not be “allowed to return to our screens.”
After widespread backlash over the weekend, Clarkson responded in a tweet on Monday, saying: “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. 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 future,” reports Sky.
But many, including Ms Nokes, said this was “not an apology”.
According to Sky, she added, “I welcome Jeremy Clarkson’s acknowledgement that he has caused hurt… but an editorial process allowed his column to be printed unchallenged.”
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