Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson Apologizes for Punching Producer in the Face
Nothing says “sorry” like $140,000.
The drama behind the punch heard ‘round the car world may finally be coming to an end. According to the BBC, Jeremy Clarkson has not only apologized to Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon for slugging him in the kisser, he and the BBC have also settled Tymon's case for at least £100,000—roughly $140,000 at today’s exchange rates.
"I would like to say sorry, once again, to Oisin Tymon for the incident and its regrettable aftermath," Clarkson said in a statement released through Tymon's lawyers. “I want to reiterate that none of this was in any way his fault.” The “regrettable aftermath” Clarkson referred to consisted of the public backlash against Tymon, who was barraged with online harassment—including death threats—after the incident.
Oh, right, there another minor consequence: Top Gear as we knew and loved it, with presenters Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond, didn’t survive the “fracas,” as it came to be known. In case you’ve forgotten, Clarkson’s assault on Tymon—which, in addition to the punch that split open the producer’s lip, also reportedly consisted of at least one anti-Irish slur—resulted in the termination of the curmudgeonly Brit’s contract. James May and Richard Hammond tore up their own BBC paperwork shortly thereafter. (If you believe the conspiracy theories, that may have been Clarkson’s plan all along.) The trio were quickly scooped up by Amazon in a reported $250 million deal to create a new car show for the Internet mogul’s Amazon Prime video-on-demand service.
And in case your name is Mark Watney and you haven’t heard by now, the BBC is re-launching Top Gear with a hockey team’s worth of new hosts, including British radio personality Chris Evans, Joey from “Friends,” and some YouTube star who likes to oversteer a lot. Christopher Ferris, or something like that.