The Sun newspaper has received thousands of complaints about a Jeremy Clarkson column in which he said that he hated Meghan Markle.
The Grand Tour presenter wrote that he fantasised about Markle being paraded through the streets of the UK while excrement was hurled at her.
According to the BBC:
More than 6,000 complaints have been made to the press regulator regarding Jeremy Clarkson’s column about the Duchess of Sussex for the Sun.
Ipso, the independent press standards organisation, told BBC News the complaints are being assessed in accordance with its standard procedure.
Clarkson wrote he “hated [Meghan] on a cellular level” in an article published in the newspaper on Friday.
His comments were widely criticised on social media over the weekend.
On Sunday, Clarkson’s own daughter Emily said: “I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything my dad wrote about Meghan Markle.”
The Sun told BBC News it doesn’t have anything further to add. Jeremy Clarkson’s representative has also been contacted.
The total number of complaints made to Ipso in 2021 was 14,355.
Writing in his original column, Clarkson said: “I hate her [Meghan] on a cellular level.
“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.
“Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way,” he added. “But what makes me despair is that younger people, especially girls, think she’s pretty cool. They think she was a prisoner of Buckingham Palace, forced to talk about nothing but embroidery and kittens.”
His column followed the release of the last three episodes of Netflix’s docuseries Harry & Meghan on Thursday.
Posting on her Instagram page on Sunday, podcast host Emily Clarkson said she supports those “targeted with online hatred”.
“My views are and have always been clear when it comes to misogyny, bullying and the treatment of women by the media,” she wrote.
“I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything my dad wrote about Meghan Markle.”
