Jeremy Clarkson Suspended Over Fracas

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Hey if you really want to gift Clarkson something if his sacking or quitting is responsible for the ending of Top Gear after 13 years, then gift something to Hammond, May and The Stig as well. Fair's fair.
 
On another note ... if Top Gear really ends like this, it is going through the pearly gates sliding backwards in a fireball instead of slowly fading away with a tube up its nose. It's the proper way to die. :mrgreen:
 
They could sack him and then just rehire him in 6 months... just on time for the Xmas special.
 
Sorry if this has already been covered, but if he's sacked, who gets the right to call their show "Top Gear"? I guess the beeb does even though JC owns like 50% of the intellectual property? Would they have to pay him off? I wonder what Wilman's opinion of this whole thing is.

Surely if the beeb tries to replace JC, nobody will watch that. Anyone would be a fool to take that job. And I don't see James and Richard staying.

I do hope the original group (Wilman, Clarkson, May, Hammond, and all the other crew) will continue on elsewhere.

Also I think it'll be time for Oz and James go to Australia. He's going to need the money. And maybe we can finally expect some revelatory memoirs. So maybe it's not all bad.
 
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the Interceptor said:
On another note ... if Top Gear really ends like this, it is going through the pearly gates sliding backwards in a fireball instead of slowly fading away with a tube up its nose. It's the proper way to die. :mrgreen:
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Bingo. Especially so if the BBC twists and turns and then lets him stay and THEN Jezza goes "you know what? fck it".
 
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I don't think any of them will be 'needing the money'. I'm fairly sure they've all built up quite the nest egg. Hell, all three of them could probably never work again and still live very nicely. :)
 
Of course, but you do get used to a certain lifestyle. How many more Ferraris and airplanes can you buy if you don't have a big income?
 
GullWing said:
Sorry if this has already been covered, but if he's sacked, who gets the right to call their show "Top Gear"? I guess the beeb does even though JC owns like 50% of the intellectual property? Would they have to pay him off? I wonder what Wilman's opinion of this whole thing is.

Surely if the beeb tries to replace JC, nobody will watch that. Anyone would be a fool to take that job. And I don't see James and Richard staying.

I do hope the original group (Wilman, Clarkson, May, Hammond, and all the other crew) will continue on elsewhere.

Also I think it'll be time for Oz and James go to Australia. He's going to need the money. And maybe we can finally expect some revelatory memoirs. So maybe it's not all bad.
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The BBC now owns all the rights. Clarkson and Wilman's production company, Bedder 6, held a percentage, 50% I believe, but that was sold to the BBC a couple of years ago - I know for sure because I looked it up on a credit checking web service I use which states it as wholly owned by the BBC but lists them both as former directors.

Along with their home addresses (at least at the time) which I have no intention of either using or revealing.
 
GullWing said:
Sorry if this has already been covered, but if he's sacked, who get's the right to call their show "Top Gear"? I guess the beeb does even though JC owns like 50% of the intellectual property? Would they have to pay him off? I wonder what Wilman's opinion of this whole thing is.
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The BBC owns the Top Gear name and trademark, which is marketed through BBC Worldwide. Clarkson and his production company get a share of royalties from secondary distribution of TGUK, but I don't believe they earn anything from the property licensing (TGAUS, TGUS, TGRUS, etc.) apart from fees from personal appearances (TGLive).

Surely if the beeb tries to replace JC, nobody will watch that. Anyone would be a fool to take that job. And I don't see James and Richard staying.
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Oh, people *will* watch at least the first episode of a JC-less new TG, for curiosity value if nothing else. Media critics will almost certainly be watching, and making critical comparisons with JC+TG in terms of both sociopolitical context and entertainment value. If they find it dull or uninspiring, then bye-bye.

I do hope the original group (Wilman, Clarkson, May, Hammond, and all the other crew) will continue on elsewhere.
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It's not likely. It's possible that Wilman's production company can land contracts to do travel documentaries or some such (the work they did on TG is a golden ticket for that), but both May and Hammond are talented enough to pull contracts for their own projects from the Beeb (even if they're not ratings draws, there's always the direct-to-DVD market via Worldwide), and JC's own health problems are apparently worsening. TGUK in its current format would probably have been gone in two more years at best.
 
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Given Hammond's background in radio it's not outside the realm of possibility, at least in BBC thinking, that he take over as the front of the show and they draft in someone else alongside. He's presented enough stuff on his own to be capable.

Would I continue to watch? Probably since I have watched the show in all its incarnations since the early 80s. Would I enjoy it as much? Probably not but I'd be willing to give it a chance.
 
Donut97x said:
We are talking about Jeremy Clarkson. Did he hit a co-worker after having an obvious blow out? Sure did. Does that define who he is? Not even close.
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That's dangerously close to French philosopher Bertrand Levi-Strauss, who publicly suported Dominic Strauss-Kahn against assault allegations saying "you can't judge hi like he'd be an ordinary man."

But that's not true. Especially before the law and in the workplace, all of us have the same rights and status (but can afford a different quality of counsel).
 
Good article. Points in it probably true too.
 
If they do sack him, which it's looking that way.
They should do so, by having a temp deliver the message in an envelope.
 
My thoughts:

1. Yes, as folks have said, the BBC owns Top Gear. The presenters and the production staff could go elsewhere, but they obviously couldn't call it Top Gear, and they would have to be very careful to avoid using the Top Gear "intellectual property," so there would have to be some pretty major changes. And so on.

2. Yes, all three presenters are comfortably wealthy, all three of them could just soldier on doing the same kind of individual programs that they have been doing for years, and so on. No worries there at all. If you want to worry about someone, worry about the production staff, which presumably wouldn't be so comfortably wealthy.

3. I have to be in the camp who believe that this cannot be held as anything less than "violence in the workplace," and indeed, you don't come to your place of employment with a worry of being physically assaulted by one of your co-workers. Sure, it is Jeremy Clarkson, the some-million-dollar-entertainer, but given that he has been hauled off into the office for discipline a number of times previously, it's very easy to believe that no further accommodation could be made for his actions. If this had been any other workplace in any developed country, he would have been sent to clean out his desk and leave the building for good. I don't want to see him go like everyone else here, but to think that he could be allowed to stay is pretty much ignoring modern employment laws, rules, and policies.

4. Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole situation is how the presenters' contracts are done in a few days -- this may well just turn out to be "Jeremy's contract will not be renewed." So, would the others sign new contracts and go on without him? To me, that's a bigger question than whether Jeremy will go on with Top Gear or not.

5. Finally, and obviously, Jeremy's gift should be nothing other than a steak dinner.
 
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opethfan said:
Here's an article from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...n-who-can-replace-jeremy-clarkson-on-top-gear
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Good post, nice thoughts.

But honestly, as if the BBC takes Sabine Schmitz as a replacement. I have her on Facebook and talked a couple of times during VLN events to her, she has other things to do than hop onto that show and save it (which she couldn't, I'm sure).
Sabine is a very nice and charming women, and a very talented racing driver, but she isn't near any capability of hosting a show watched by hundreds of millions of people. Yes, she hosted D Motor on DMAX in Germany for a few years. But the niveau and requirement of that show are/were no where near the ones that Top Gear has today.

And to be fair, if she hadn't married her husband Klaus Abbelen who got rich by producing and selling sausages that woman would clean toilets today and not driving a GT3 car...
 
BBC Director-General's statement regarding Jeremy Clarkson
Date: 25.03.2015 Last updated: 25.03.2015 at 14.00
Category: BBC Two; Factual; Corporate
Tony Hall, the BBC Director-General, has today released the following statement regarding Jeremy Clarkson.

It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon.

I am grateful to Ken MacQuarrie for the thorough way he has conducted an investigation of the incident on 4th March. Given the obvious and very genuine public interest in this I am publishing the findings of his report. I take no pleasure in doing so. I am only making them public so people can better understand the background. I know how popular the programme is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion. The main facts are not disputed by those involved.

I want to make three points.

First ? The BBC is a broad church. Our strength in many ways lies in that diversity. We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price. Common to all at the BBC have to be standards of decency and respect. I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff ? who is a completely innocent party ? took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.

Second ? This has obviously been difficult for everyone involved but in particular for Oisin. I want to make clear that no blame attaches to him for this incident. He has behaved with huge integrity throughout. As a senior producer at the BBC he will continue to have an important role within the organisation in the future.

Third ? Obviously none of us wanted to find ourselves in this position. This decision should in no way detract from the extraordinary contribution that Jeremy Clarkson has made to the BBC. I have always personally been a great fan of his work and Top Gear. Jeremy is a huge talent. He may be leaving the BBC but I am sure he will continue to entertain, challenge and amuse audiences for many years to come.

The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I have asked Kim Shillinglaw to look at how best we might take this forward over the coming months. I have also asked her to look at how we put out the last programmes in the current series.


BBC Press Office


Investigation findings ? Ken MacQuarrie

On 9 March 2015, Jeremy Clarkson reported to BBC management that he had been involved in a physical and verbal incident with Oisin Tymon, the producer of
Top Gear, at the Simonstone Hall Hotel, North Yorkshire, whilst working on location. The incident had occurred on 4 March 2015
and Jeremy Clarkson was suspended on 10 March, pending investigation.

I was asked to undertake an investigation to establish the facts of what occurred. In conducting my
investigation, in line with the BBC?s usual practice, I interviewed a number of witnesses and others
connected with the incident. Accounts were agreed, based on my interviews, with each participant.

Having conducted these interviews and considered the evidence presented, I conclude the following: on 4 March
2015 Oisin Tymon was subject to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Jeremy Clarkson. During the physical attack
Oisin Tymon was struck, resulting in swelling and bleeding to his lip. The verbal abuse was sustained over a longer period, both at
the time of the physical attack and subsequently.

Specific facts I have found as part of my investigation are as follows:

earlier on 4 March, studio recording of Top Gear had taken place in Surrey and the presenters had travelled that
same evening to the location shoot in North Yorkshire;

the incident occurred on a patio area of the Simonstone Hall Hotel, where Oisin Tymon was working on location for
Top Gear;

the physical attack lasted around 30 seconds and was halted by the intervention of a witness;

it is the case that Oisin Tymon offered no retaliation;

the verbal abuse was directed at Oisin Tymon on more than one occasion ? both during the
attack and subsequently inside the hotel ? and contained the strongest expletives and threats to
sack him. The abuse was at such volume as to be heard in the dining room, and the shouting
was audible in a hotel bedroom;

derogatory and abusive language, relating to Oisin Tymon and other members of the Top Gear
team, continued to be used by Jeremy Clarkson inside the hotel, in the presence of others, for a
sustained period of time;

it is clear that Oisin Tymon was shocked and distressed by the incident, and believed that he
had lost his job;

following the attack, I understand that Oisin Tymon drove to a nearby A&E department for examination;

over the subsequent days, Jeremy Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologise to Oisin Tymon by way of text, email and in person;
and

it is the case that Jeremy Clarkson reported the incident to BBC management.


It was not disputed by Jeremy Clarkson or any witness that Oisin Tymon was the victim of an unprovoked physical and verbal attack.
It is also clear to me that Oisin Tymon is an important creative member of the Top Gear team who is well
- valued and respected. He has suffered significant personal distress as a result of this incident, through no fault of his own.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/jeremy-clarkson-dg-statement
 
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