The Sun newspaper has apologised for publishing Jeremy Clarkson’s hate-filled rant against Meghan Markle.
Following intense backlash to the presenter’s column, in which he says he hates the Duchess of Sussex on a ‘cellular level’, the newspaper said it is ‘sincerely sorry.’
In a statement, the newspaper shared: ‘In last Saturday’s Sun, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a comment article about the Duchess of Sussex. It provoked a strong response and led to a large number of complaints to Ipso, the independent press regulator.
‘In a tweet earlier this week, Jeremy said he had made a “clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones”, which had “gone down badly with a great many people” and he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”. He also said he will be more careful in future.
‘Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher we realise that with free expression comes responsibility. We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry.’
The newspaper added that the article had also been removed from their archives as well as their website.
Their statement continued: ‘The Sun has a proud history of campaigning, from Help for Heroes to Jabs Army, Who Cares Wins and over 50 years of working in partnership with charities, our campaigns have helped change Britain for the better.
‘Working with our readers, The Sun has helped to bring about new legislation on domestic abuse, provided beds in refuges, closed harmful loopholes in the law and empowered survivors of abuse to come forward and seek help. We will continue to campaign for good causes on behalf of our readers in 2023.’
The apology comes after the piece became the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s (Ipso) most complained-about article.
Ipso said the piece, which was removed from The Sun’s website on Monday at Clarkson’s request, had received more than 17,500 complaints as of 9am on Tuesday – rising to 20,800 by 5pm.
The reaction surpassed the total number of complaints the media regulator received in 2021 – 14,355.
Clarkson, 62, previously wrote that he despises Markle and wishes to see people ‘throw lumps of excrement’ at her.
Writing for outlet, he said he hates Prince Harry’s wife more than he does Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, and the serial killer Rose West.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host said that he felt ‘sorry’ for Prince Harry, who he dubbed a ‘glove puppet’, claiming that the Prince is ‘controlled by his wife.‘
Clarkson – who struggles sleeping over his one-sided vendetta – also alleged that ‘everyone who’s my age thinks the same way’.
Following widespread criticism, the former Top Gear presenter said he himself was ‘horrified’ over his remarks.
Earlier this week, he released a statement addressing the controversy, writing: ‘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.’
He added: ‘I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.’
However, the Clarkson’s Farm star’s own family members have voiced their disgust over what he wrote, with 28-year-old daughter Emily making it very clear where she stands.
Amongst the first to publicly condemn the accomplished broadcaster, she wrote in a social media post: ‘I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.’
Other celebrities who reacted in horror included Carol Vorderman, Dan Walker, and Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, who stated on This Morning that Clarkson ‘needs to be muzzled’.
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