BBC drops Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson for attack on producer
British broadcaster says it will not renew TV host's contract after assault on producer
The BBC announced yesterday that it was dropping one of its most popular presenters, Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, after he verbally and physically attacked a producer.
"It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract," BBC director-general Tony Hall said.
Clarkson's contract with Top Gear, which draws more than 350 million viewers around the world, is thought to expire at the end of this month.
His departure will have financial implications for the broadcaster, whose commercial arms BBC Worldwide earns around £50 million (HK$577m) each year from the show.
But Hall said: "There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations." He added the BBC "must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016" and put out the final episodes in the current series of the programme.
The presenter, who has been forced to apologise in the past for using apparently racist language, was suspended on March 10 over what the BBC said was a "fracas".
An internal investigation revealed he launched an "unprovoked physical and verbal attack" on Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon following a day's filming on March 4.