BBC Host on Striking Workers: 'Execute Them in Front of Their Families'
The BBC has apologized after one their most popular hosts called to have striking public workers killed "in front of their families."
Labor unions claimed Wednesday that as many as two million public workers joined a strike over cuts in pension rights as part of an austerity program by the British government.
In an interview on BBC's The One Show Wednesday, Jeremy Clarkson, host of BBC's Top Gear, was asked about the strikes that had affected "schools, hospitals, airports, even driving tests."
"Frankly, I'd have them all shot!" Clarkson exclaimed.
"I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families. I mean how dare they go on strike when they've got these gilt-edged pensions that are going to be guaranteed while the rest of us have to work for a living?"
Those remarks left The One Show host Matt Baker making an on-air apology at the end of the show.
"Although we enjoy Jeremy’s views, which he sometimes exaggerates for comical effect, we are seriously sorry if his comments about deaths on the railways has upset anyone," Baker explained.
British Prime Minister David Cameron told ITV Thursday that he hadn't see the interview but, "it's a silly thing to say."
As a BBC employee, Clarkson is essentially paid by the same British taxpayers who he was calling to have executed.
UPDATE: As several of the commenters have noted, the full context of Clarkson's remarks show that he was most likely making a point about how the BBC wants all opinions to be "balanced" with a counterpoint.
"It is evident he is adopting a different persona for comedic effect as he says this, shifting his weight before he says it," Calum Nicholson wrote for The Huffington Post. "He is role-playing, in order to satirise the BBC's need for 'balance'. To balance, in this case, his expressed opinion that the strikes are a good thing."
"It looks like this has been missed by even his defenders. Probably because he transitions into this persona with barely a pause, and delivers the lines in complete dead-pan. And so unless you are paying close attention, it is perhaps not wholly obvious."
Clarkson has since clarified that the remarks were not meant to be taken seriously, but "[i]f the BBC and I have caused any offence, I'm quite happy to apologise for it alongside them."
As of Monday, the BBC had received more than 30,000 complaints about Clarkston.
I doubt ANY of the Senators or Congresspersons or News Anchors or TV Bloviators who denigrate Working People's protests - whether they be strikes or occupations - has EVER done an honest day's work in their lives.
And yet they sit on their pampered buttocks pontificating about how the rest of us should live.
Suspend the pontificators from the networks, freeze their assets and turn them out on the streets.
Let THEM see how it feels to sleep under a bridge trying to keep one eye open to avoid getting rolled.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
As a fan of Top Gear I want to give him a break. In comedy you walk a fine line between being offensive and being too risk averse. I'd hate for everyone in the media to become too risk averse because they think that they second they cross over the line, their career will be over.
Stewart Lee on Top Gear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0i0RXMvzMs
Sorry. He's a c*$t. Always has been.
James May is the only one on it that's cool.
Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-gjJIbBEBI
<-----that's why.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
I can't justify further viewing.
Seconded!
Here's funny, dude.
"I never understood why the French cut off Marie Antoinette's head. Now I FUCKING GET IT!" - Louis Black
I find elitist heads on sticks being paraded through the streets to be hysterically funny.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
"Here's funny, dude."
Oh, ok.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
. . . otherwise it loses something.
Imagining the disheveled collar and tie helps, too.
Clarkson has always said outrageous things and over-the-top exaggeration is part and parcel of his brand of humour. He did not appear to be joking, though. His speech was laden with genuine anger and he went on to attempt to justify his derision of the strikers with an actual rationale. That rationale was, of course, complete bunk - teachers aren't exactly getting a gilt-edged pension. That is what is so horrific about this. A millionaire who drives 1,000 HP cars for a living is genuinely angry at teachers, nurses and council workers trying to protect their ability to feed themselves in retirement and avoid being punished for the pure greed and incompetence of bankers and politicians over the past 30 years. There's a reason he's so out of touch with public sector workers - he hasn't had to worry about money for a long, long time.
I would believe he was a Republican running for re-election. What an a**!
It reminds me of that joke where everyone gets AIDS and dies a long, slow, painful death. It's a real knee-slapper. Harr harr harr.
far left loon >.<
This guy has a right to his views and I have a right to never watch a show where the host despises the working men and women of his audiance. His hate filled comments wereover the line ans not intended to be funny but malicious. You're support for idiots like this is sickenning and only enables people like him to continue. At a time when the working people of Britain and the world are in dire straights and calling for fairness in government and business he calls for thier executions. If you think people like this are entertaining you probably think raping and killing women and children is a hoot.You must be as sick as he is.
Wonder how he will enjoy his next destination - GITMO - 300 years.
"Although we enjoy Jeremy’s views, which he sometimes exaggerates for comical effect, we are seriously sorry if his comments about deaths on the railways has upset anyone," Baker explained.
Don't want to upset anyone. I think they're already upset and that's why there are 2 million of them in the streets.
Jeanne
.. how true ..
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
At least Matt Baker didn't mind upsetting Cameron with a question like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do4yRf71oZM
Even for Jeremy this is a new level of assholery.
Yes, Top Gear is mostly comedy but he wasn't being funny. He makes 1.5 million pounds a year and loves to sneer at everyone below that level. I've never seen anyone with a greater sense of entitlement.
Watching the whole interview instead of a selected clip reveals that he's not seriously suggesting that anyone should be executed. In the beginning of the interview, he speaks in a generally favorable way about the unions. He then states that, in order to appear impartial, he must then speak negatively about unions. He was being funny. He's a comedian, presenter, and car critic. While he's said and some some stupid things in the past, he's not seriously suggesting anything in this clip, and suggesting otherwise is yellow journalism. Crooks and Liars is a good source for news and opinion, and I'd like it to remain that way.
Sure, he's a
prickcomedian,fart in a jarpresenter,twatfaceand car critic.How is he a comedian?
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
...that this clip was deceptively edited.
This is NO DIFFERENT than Romney's campaign putting a McCain staffer's words into Obama's mouth.
He was making a joke. It's absolutely clear in context.
I think you are a fucking bastard c|_|nt fuck who needs to be shot. You fuck face.
Oh, i'm sorry. It's just a "joke"
Twat.
Let me be clear, this post was a a joke. OK!
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
Alerta, you have a gift! Have you ever thought of writing for Hallmark?
He uses it to excuse all the shite that tumbles out of his fucked up gob. Listen to the clip of Stewart Lee explaining this. Stewart Lee on Top Gear, the 15 minute clip. The link is in this thread a couple of times. Lee explains my sentiments exactly in a far more entertaining way than I could writing about it. It IS different than the Romney/Obama deal, because this is not really a joke (and the audience, the country, the people involved--too bad you don't understand degrees). He just says it is. Not because it was funny or anything, but to get out of trouble. Full stop. He's a UK version of a shock jock. Walking talking arsehole.
me-oww!
Look, I know the enemy is at the gates (or have battered through the gates and stole the bloody sink) and it seems like we are surrounded and ensnared by hate on all sides. It's easy to see threats and enemies in a lot of what people might say about us. And it's true, Clarkson's an arse and he has a habit of saying something awful and then shrugging and saying it was a joke and that should make it all right. However, in this instance, it really does seem to be a joke - and not a joke at our expense. The set-up, as Willtravel and myself have explained, appears to be that he is saying 'for balance' that the strikers should be shot; to wit that the 'other side' believes that and would be so callous as to do it in front of their families.
Wish I'd seen a longer clip before my rant above, though I do still desire to see a full length version of the interview to get the full context.
Wake up and smell the coffee, pal. His malicious and condescending comments are NOT a joke. They are the product of an insensitive jerk that desperately needs some sensitivity training. Being bereft of empathy for others is a serious problem, maybe you could use some help yourself, in fact.
We're not laughing because this isn't funny---it's pathetic.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
I'd need to see the full clip to be certain, but from the start of what's available on youtube he is saying some positive things about how the strike has not led to serious disruption and then said "but to be impartial, let's kill all the strikers in front of their families" - lampooning the anti-strike position for the cruelty and malice that lies behind it. I could be wrong, like I said I can't see enough of it to be certain, but that appears to be what is actually going on.
You really need to watch the interview. He's parodying both the BBC's fetish for balance at all costs and the anti-union position.
According to this, the apology issued by the BBC was for a later joke about people throwing themselves under trains:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HJP0WXyeaA
Looking at that clip, you may have a point. I would like to see the full interview though, because I find it difficult to believe Unison would be thinking of legal action and Cameron would weigh in on how terrible the comments were if they were so blatantly not serious.
I say we have a 'new ruke', or sumthin', that any joke with this in the punchline isn't funny.
There's being flippant and then there's being a complete a-hole. These people are fighting for their future.
far left loon >.<
This is no funny at all. It's just bad taste and pure ignorance. You don't joke in this kind of way. Well, I guess the big corporations bought everything..not only the politicians but also the media, the tv stars, movie stars you name it.
It is just sad to read this kind of stuff. All this kind of hate. The future doesn't look that good anymore. I loast my hope for humanity.
Deatrix
http://slangpolitics.blogspot.com/
sharpish.
"It was a JOKE!"--Clarkson catchphrase.
Someone posted this the other day. It's very accurate.
me-oww!
"Honest..I didn't mean to say that...."
Yes you did...it's showing how tough you are to the morons who listen for such garbage...your base...so they'll get fired up......
"Horse is outta thebarn...oooops..."I ll go fetch him back....."
Fuck you Jeremy, your not tough, and your mother should be pistol whipped for having you as a bastard child....Ooooops, I didn't mean to say that...honest...
Don't ya just love the Christmas spirit!?
To use a brit term he's a c@nt.
Or you could use bawbag. It's Scottish but it fits him right.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
And he seemed so normal when he is on screen doing his show. I guess appearances can be deceiving. Real CLASS ACT there .
loathesome Gooper start polluting OUR teevee waves? What Ho-let will bid for him? Faux? MS-GOP? No, it'll be CNN, for sure.
I hope those Brit unionists let him know how much they appreciate his anti-social spew.
35 mph offset frontal ought to fix that Tory bastard...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfSS0ZXYdo
An educated ape, that's all he is. I'd teach him a thing or two about manners.
Is it the 21st century yet?
Clarkson, it was nice knowing ya.
TV "personality" says something "outrageous"
Then something more outrageous.
Eventually the personality learns that s/he has to keep getting more and more outrageous to keep the fans coming back
Finally the personality says something so far over the line that apologies have to be made
Personality excuses him/herself by saying that the statement was "humor"
Forgetting, of course, that humor, at the least, should be funny.
The British male version of Ann Coulter , BFD , anything for a buck and some attention .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Like the time Clarkson, Hammond and May painted derogatory slogans on their cars, such as 'Man-Love', 'Hillary for President' and 'Nascar Sucks' and drove through Alabama. Har-har-har, so funny. And those Alabama red-necks were such good sports, because they knew it was JUST A JOKE.
Or calling the Deputy Prime Minister a 'one-eyed Scottish idiot' on air. JUST KIDDING AROUND!
And his constant put-down of Americans - 'You can't be American, you're not fat enough!' JUST A JOKE!
Americans are stupid and rude! IT'S JUST A TEEVEE SHOW, ONLY KIDDING...
He ridicules the American military. Sir, yes, sir! JUST A JOKE!
I've listened to the cretin for years, his nasty humour, his put-downs, his drivel, and I have never found it 'funny.' 'Joking' about taking people out into the streets and murdering them in front of their families is not a joke, no matter how 'humorous' Clarkson was trying to be. Being cruel, insensitive and utterly reprehensible is not excusable. Not even if it's 'just a joke'.
Some lines you just don't cross. I don't want to be taken there, joke or not.
far left loon >.<
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN72DAlhovY
SEE THE WHOLE CONTEXT
So is there no redeeming value in that trip through Alabama?
I'm like a lot of people, I think, in that I would expect people who saw those slogans written on a car would just sort of go "WTF?" and get on with their days. It's eye-opening to see how lynch mobs are still a reality in parts of the South. It was as if the people who were chasing them had experience doing this.
And as a San Franciscan who loves his city, I found the episode where they traveled from SF to the Bonneville Salt Flats hilarious. San Franciscans can be a little, well.. self-regarding. So It's refreshing to see the Golden Gate Bridge described as "Like the Humber Bridge in Britain, but shorter." and Reno described as "Like Las Vegas, but smaller and worse."
There's no accounting for taste I guess.
...on a car and drive it through the heartland of Alabama, thinking that's a mighty funny joke, has no ground to stand on to call Americans or anyone else stupid. Yes, it's sad there still exists that lynch mob mentality, but anyone who deliberately pokes a stick in a hornet's nest deserves to be stung.
That twit who drives cars and makes obnoxious jokes for a living makes $2.9 million a year doing it, paid for out of publicly funded BBC licence fees. As a former licence fee payer, it annoys me greatly that I helped pay for that enormous salary so that he can continue being an arse. This is hardly the first time he's made an outrageous joke that has backfired, he's a serial offender. Angus Deayton was sacked after a tabloid paper spilled the beans on his private life - not even something he did on the air. Why Jeremy Clarkson is so bulletproof that he can continue to make insulting 'jokes' baffles me.
What Deayton did was illegal. What Clarkson did, in this instance, as in the instance of driving around with Man-Love and NASCAR SUX on his car, was point out somebody else's violent, irrational prejudice.
I don't love the man or his show but good grief, it's like none of you are even trying to acquaint yourselves with the truth here.
they almost got themselves killed driving through the south. No sane americans would ever think of doing that.
... here's the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complain-online/
I am writing to complain about the fact that I cannot be bothered finding a slightly longer clip that demonstrates the context of a joke made by one of your presenters. I would much rather be angry and frothing at the mouth about perceiving him as saying he truly believes strikers should be shot in front of their families rather than concentrating on the real issue that he highlights - opposition to the strikers' desire for a fair deal is violently rabid and media outlets such as the BBC are obsessed with 'balance' that legitimises this horrendous position.
Also, on your next news item please explain why David Cameron has a big 'Mission Accomplished' banner in his backyard. Why, it's almost as if he thinks he's winning while we tear each other to pieces to complain about some twit who drives cars and makes obnoxious jokes for a living.
These comments came from Clarkson. It's not like they are from a right wing extremist. Frankly, when you hear things coming from his mouth you need to take it all in with a grain of salt. I won't pair him with, let's say, a Republican politician with a load of lobby money.
From what I recall, back in 1979, the British people elected the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher, and what they got was an 18 year stretch of Thatcher, and her successor, John Major, running their country into the ground - even going so far as to try to tamper with NHS (government health care). The Tories even tried to tamper with the Beeb by suggesting that it carry commercials or just become a news and information service with a small drama section.
After 18 years of the Tories came Tony Blair and Labour, and there was some hope for the future - but then Tony hitched his caravan (travel trailer) to Dubya's star and got Britain into Iraq and Afghanistan. Thirteen years of Labour - first Blair, then Gordon Brown - and there wasn't that much for the British people.
In 2010 came the resulting minority government of the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, with David Cameron and Nick Clegg. I used to like Clegg, but then he stood by and let Cameron's crazies raise the student fees at university. Is it any wonder why all of the Cameron government's moves are angering the British people?
Now Jeremy Clarkson's words on the Beeb. All I can tell the British people is that there is such a thing as karma, and it will be something to see when this twat experiences it first hand.
Jeremy Clarkson is an ass, and always has been. He's one of those people who are so stupid that they are scary.
He's not funny, either.
C'mon David, let's remember that context counts. An edited clip totally misrepresents what Clarkson said. We could do the same every week to Bill Maher or countless other people cracking a joke.
This story is wrong and should be corrected or pulled.
It has been 48 hours since the publication date at the top of the article, though I don't think I saw it on the site until yesterday afternoon. Either way, a long time has passed after which the original context was pointed out and commentors are still refusing to check it out and David is refusing to retract or correct himself. I have noticed that, sadly, this site does have a track record of that sort of thing. They usually get it right, but when they get it wrong (inevitable in journalism, especially partisan politics filled with such raw feeling and understandable mistrust of the 'other side') and you point it out to them, they are extremely reluctant to acknowledge their mistake.
I would have pointed out that others are trying to demonstrate this mistake privately, but David has set his profile to prevent private messaging, and I don't see an email address anywhere.
Wasn't this one of the idiots who alienated the BBC's Latin-American customer base with their racist comments about the MXT Mastretta being a failure for being Mexican?
.
Such a silly thing to say, Really. That's probably what the Koch Brothers think. How dare they ask for a living wage and retirement. How UnBritish of them.
I heard someone describe Congress as a bunch of prostitutes. That statement is slanderous to all prostitutes and should be stricken from the record.
Like, ever?
Top Gear is a great show. It's a damn shame that I will never again watch it because of this mofo. Probably stop watching BBC altogether.
My guess is he just ended his career on television with that statement. Until FauxNews picks him up as an international correspondant, that is.
Clarkson, the reason people love your show and envy you is because by all observations you DONT work for a living.
Asshat. At least I don't pay for your show. Three cheers, internet. I still love Hammond.
He had a great series on last year about making super sized toys based on favorites from his youth. Fantastic.
Ignore this.
I'm actually willing to let Clarkson's comment slide. Granted the comment was by far deplorable, but in the proper context he did make that comment "to balance things out" for the BBC. Prior to the "shooting" remark he commented about how the strikes were a good thing because so much was made easier by them, such as getting through the airports, which many people had also said. After that, he then went on to say "we have to balance it though don't we; this is the BBC" after which he made the "shooting" comment.
With all due respect to the people who think the original remark speaks for itself and that Clarkson was being serious, in the proper context that is clearly not the case. Rather Clarkson was simply making a satirical negative comment to balance out the positive one as it "is the BBC".
I would also point that regardless of whether Clarkson crossed the line or not, we sometimes do have to cross it in order to know where the line is.
...what I see here is a very small, tightly cut snippet.
I've watched a lot of Clarkson and, while he is a bit of a douchebag, I have a hard time believing he's not being ironic here. Without context, I'll give him a pass.
Unfortunately no one on the entire Internet seems to have been able to upload the full interview so unless you can see BBC iPlayer, this is the most you'll get. It adds a few seconds at the start that pretty much establishes the context you were expecting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN72DAlhovY
Crooks and Liars and most commentators here seem to be steadfastly refusing to acknowledge its existence, unfortunately.
thats exactly right. C&L is down right sickening sometime. Whoever ignores the truth for their own purpose is EVIL
It isn't exactly evil. It's petty, childish and unfair, certainly, and this place would do itself and any movement it believes in a much better service by having the guts to face their mistakes rather than hide from them (looking at you, David!). But evil? CAPITAL LETTER EVIL? That's being a bit over-dramatic.
Fine, its eViL. Half capitalized.
So there goes the evil theory.
Funny to see Clarkson apologise 'alongside the BBC'.
WOW C&L proves again how shitty their "reporting" is. DID YOU WATCH THE FULL CLIP? He did not call for their execution!
The only ones who should be offended by his statements are RIGHT WINGERS who say public workers should not have the right to strike. He was mocking THE RIGHT WINGERS.
I can't believe C&L comes to the aid of RIGHT WINGERS.
You're all in the joke together, asshats.
Comments are closed on this entry