The Sun newspaper has apologised for publishing a column by Jeremy Clarkson about Meghan Markle.
In the piece, the former Top Gear host wrote that he “hates” the Duchess of Sussex “on a cellular level” and dreams of people throwing “excrement” at her in the street.
Jeremy also stated that he hates Meghan more than Rose West, the serial killer who collaborated with her husband Fred in the torture and murder of young women and children.
NO Jeremy Clarkson. Not on any level, in any circumstance, is it ok to write this stuff about any woman & absolutely NO to “everyone who’s my age thinks the same”
No no no. We absolutely do NOT think the same.
Listen to the noise Jeremy. The crowds are chanting “shame on YOU” pic.twitter.com/OzCt9lHG16— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) December 18, 2022
The column sparked huge backlash, and was later deleted from The Sun’s website at Jeremy’s request.
It also became the UK’s most complained about article ever, with the Independent Press Standards Organisation receiving over 20,800 complaints as of Tuesday.
On Friday, The Sun released an official apology over the column’s publication.
The newspaper said in a statement: “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 article has been removed from our website and archives.”
“The Sun has a proud history of campaigning, from Help for Heroes to Jabs Army and 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 statement added.
