The face of Japanese cars

[Russell]

Top Gear host in trouble over 'offensive' car quip

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson breached BBC guidelines by comparing a Japanese car to people with growths on their faces.

A report by the BBC Trust's editorial standards committee (ESC) found he "strayed into an offensive stereotypical assumption" with the scripted remarks during an episode of the hit motoring show.

A member of the public complained about the "offensive" remarks after Clarkson likened the shape of a Prius campervan to someone with "a growth on their face" and referred to it as the "elephant car".

He also described it as "not a car that you could talk to at a party unless you were looking at something else".

The ESC said the show's audience enjoyed the presenters' "sometimes controversial and forthright views" but ruled this remark "played on a stereotypically negative reaction to facial disfigurement".

It said it "strayed into an offensive stereotypical assumption" and was "not editorially justified".

The report stated: "The committee accepted that the remark was exaggerated for comic effect, but believed that some viewers may find this particular remark, taken within the whole context of the exchange, to be a purposeless stereotype.

"The committee concluded that this programme was in breach of the guidelines on harm and offence as the exchanges about facial disfigurement were not editorially justified and did not meet generally accepted standards in the context of their portrayal of a disability."

It upheld the complaint.

Clarkson was cleared by Ofcom earlier this year of breaching the broadcasting code by watchdog Ofcom over the same remarks.

It is not the first time he has talked himself into trouble.

He was recently criticised by mental health charities after he branded people who throw themselves under trains as "selfish".

That came after he was forced to apologise for telling BBC1's The One Show that striking workers should be shot.

Top Gear has seen more than its share of controversy. Earlier this year Indian diplomats complained about a special edition of the program filmed in the country.

The 90-minute India special included a car fitted with a toilet in the boot which Clarkson said was "perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots".

The BBC was forced to apologise to the Mexican ambassador last year after remarks made by Clarkson and co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Clarkson's retarded...

[yanpa]

Tsk tsk, with language like that you'll have the Internet Standards Council on your back for making inappropriate remarks which might cause offence to the intellectually challenged community.

Clarkson is a bit of a twat though.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Sorry, I was actually trying to make fun of him in accordance with the kind of line he'd been throwing out himself....will type slower next time.


....don't know Clarkson (but being a Pom is a bad start ) and have only heard of the show, never watched it.
I can't believe the cuntry that produced Love Thy Neighbor, Mind Your Language and even Fawlty Towers -- just to name a few that come immediately to hand -- now finds such material racially offensive. It is, of course, and morally reprehensible, but that's never stopped the Brutish before.
Still, I had no idea the Brutish were as hypocritical as Merkins when it came to the pot calling the kettle...er...you know.

[yanpa]

Sorry, I was actually trying to make fun of him in accordance with the kind of line he'd been throwing out himself....will type slower next time.

For Clarkson you'd need something like this:

If Clarkson was a car, he'd be a car so pompously hideous you'd want to put a paper bag over your head before you even look at it. You'd rather put yourself behind the wheel of a festering haemorrhoid than think about even driving this Clarkson. It's not a Clarkson you'd want to talk to at a party even if all the other guests had spent the afternoon rolling in cow pats.

I do admit to watching the programmes sometimes, though recently they're getting a bit predictable.

[Russell]

I can't believe the cuntry that produced Love Thy Neighbor, Mind Your Language and even Fawlty Towers -- just to name a few that come immediately to hand -- now finds such material racially offensive. It is, of course, and morally reprehensible, but that's never stopped the Brutish before.

You forgot the Young Ones...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I can't believe the cuntry that produced Love Thy Neighbor, Mind Your Language and even Fawlty Towers -- just to name a few that come immediately to hand -- now finds such material racially offensive. It is, of course, and morally reprehensible, but that's never stopped the Brutish before.

You forgot the Young Ones...

Because it wasn't racist like the shows I mentioned.

If you were referring to me neglecting to list great comedy shows the Brutish have produced, the Young Ones would only be one of a lengthy list.