Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to Jeremy Clarkson: ‘This is not an isolated incident shared in haste’

We know of at least one white man who may have spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day in reflection. 

On Monday, British broadcaster, journalist, and game show host Jeremy Clarkson released a second apology for his deranged and now deleted op-ed in The Sun about Meghan Markle he wrote in early December.  

“I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up. It’s a mea culpa with bells on,” he says. 

In the lengthy apology shared to Instagram, Clarkson details how apologetic he is, explaining that the original article was written “in a hurry” before submission. 

“Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the land mine exploded,” Clarkson wrote. 

The controversial broadcaster explains that he was “mortified” by what he wrote about Markle, especially when he said he dreamt “of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.”   

Clarkson said he was “thinking of a scene in ‘Game of Thrones,'” but forgot to mention it in the op-ed, which made him look like he was “actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan’s head,” the post read. 

He was “very angry” with himself because despite previously being entangled in controversy, “it was very rarely sexism.” 

“I’m just not sexist and I abhor violence against women. And yet I seemed to be advocating just that. I was mortified and so was everyone else,” he said. 

Since the original article was published, many, including friends, colleagues, and his daughter, have expressed their condemnation of him personally and publicly. Clarkson is also potentially facing further consequences with Amazon. 

The 62-year-old journalist apologized Monday after he attempted to reach out to the duke and duchess on Christmas Day, a fact the couple has slightly corrected.

A statement shared with People magazine from a spokesperson for Harry and Markle clarifies that Clarkson solely sent an apology email to Harry. The report also alludes to how this latest apology barely scratches the surface of the issue with Clarkson.  

“While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr. Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny. Unless each of his other pieces were also written “in a hurry,” as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate,” said the spokesperson. 

Clarkson began Monday’s apology by noting that he was taking the time to do it because his first attempt wasn’t enough. 

“One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologize for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it’s never enough for the people who called for it in the first place,” he said. 

He may want to take another stab at it. 

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