Clarkson Sacks Himself

While the Murdoch press continues to spin hopefully in his favour, and the Mail tries to use the affair as another way to put the boot in on the hated BBC, the Mirror - which appears to be the conduit of choice for disgruntled Beeb staff who are not happy about his behaviour - has once again told that Jeremy Clarkson knew he was in the mire some days ago, turning up on the doorstep of producer Oisin Tymon asking for forgiveness.

Went to the Roundhouse, had a few scoops, and then sacked myself ... LIVE ON CAMERA

Unfortunately for Jezza, the door remained unopened, and only after that did he “report himself” to the Corporation’s management, allegedly driven in part by the Top Gear support team leaving him with no option to do otherwise. The Mirror story shows the way in which pro-Clarkson spin has been contradicted at every turn: Jezza’s act of owning up was first claimed to be a positive for him. Not for long.

And even the latest Mirror story has now been overtaken by events, after Clarkson rocked up to a charity event at Camden Roundhouse last night and told the audience that he had effectively already been sacked. The expletive-laden tirade certainly wasn’t the kind of thing that someone begging forgiveness would consider, and looked yet worse compared to the BBC’s assertion that they would not be commenting further.

Jezza, auctioning a lap of the Top Gear track for £100,000, told “I didn’t foresee my sacking but I would like to do one last lap. So I’ll go down to Surrey and I’ll do one last lap of that track before the fucking bastards sack me … I’ll be a bit tearful when I do it, but fuck it, let’s do it”. The event was apparently “to raise money for young people to take part in the arts”, but there was nothing arty about Clarkson’s admission.

“I’ll drive somebody around in whatever I can get hold of. I’m sacked so it’s probably an Austin Maestro. So who knows? But anyway it will be my last ever lap of the Top Gear track”. Then out came the onion: “There was an 18-year waiting list to be in the audience of Top Gear, but the BBC has fucked themselves. It was a great show and they’ve fucked it up. Tonight’s the night when you have the opportunity”.

Why Jezza should be tearful after spending the past 12 years trousering More And Bigger Paycheques For Himself Personally Now from the revamped Top Gear - and he had previously featured in the “old format” show for 13 years before that - is mystifying. If the hype is true, and Every Other Known Broadcaster In The UK is queuing up to offer him even more dosh, why worry?

Clarkson can count himself lucky that there was only one “fracas”: it seems that BBC staff had to plead with management at the hotel where the fateful bust-up occurred to keep the power on the morning after, so that Jezza could enjoy a hot breakfast, despite not surfacing until after 1000 hours. The rest of the population plays by the rules when staying away from home - and otherwise has to make their own.

“Bring Back Clarkson”? Bye Bye Clarkson, more like. He’s made his pile and had his say. The reign of Jezza at the Beeb was for a time - but not for all time.