Jeremy Clarkson’s choice of words has got the presenter in trouble again, this time after he made fun of a barrister with dyslexia in an episode of his series, Clarkson’s Farm.
The former Top Gear host, whose TV career still hangs in the balance after his slating of Meghan Markle in The Sun, is facing fresh controversy over his comments to Charles Streeten.
Clarkson’s Farm
The second season of the Amazon Prime doc debuted last week, with one episode showing Clarkson walking out of a hearing before West Oxfordshire district council’s uplands area planning subcommittee in January.
During the meeting, the 62-year-old spoke about wanting to expand business on his Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds, saying he needed to “diversify” because of the “parlous state” of finances for farmers. In the first episode of the new series Clarkson revealed he made £144 profit.
When going through a council officer’s report, written by Streeten, Clarkson is believed to have made “disparaging remarks” about the written responses.
“The TV star took a swipe at spelling mistakes in the council officer’s report,” a report of the hearing in The Guardian said.
“Learn to spell”
When he left the hearing, Clarkson was heard telling Streeten – who was representing the local council – to “learn to spell”.
After the episode began streaming, Streeten shared an open letter in which he spoke about his dyslexia and explained how it had not impacted his career as a barrister. He had not expected Clarkson’s remark to be televised.
The letter, according to The Times, reads: “Learn to spell. Well, I’ve certainly tried. When you muttered those words to me you couldn’t have known how many times I’ve heard them.
“But to a dyslexic, it’s a familiar phrase.”
He also pointed out there had been 56 letters of objection compared to 13 of support for Clarkson’s proposals.
Streeten added that Clarkson had a “general disregard” for planning rules and claimed his conduct was “shameful”.
He reportedly added: “It indicates a ‘give me an inch and I’ll take a mile’ attitude.”
‘Give me an inch and I’ll take a mile’
The ruling went against Clarkson.
In a statement shared with The Times, Clarkson responded to the barrister’s letter, saying: “It’s great that Mr Streeten has overcome his dyslexia to such an extent that he’s able to send such a well-spelt letter from Jamaica.
“It’s just a shame he chose not to mention his learning difficulty when we met at the planning meeting more than a year ago. Because if he had, the exchange would not have been televised.”
In his letter, Streeten revealed how “no matter” how hard he worked or “stowed the list of words beneath my pillow, when the time came to be tested, I simply could not put the letters in order with certainty”.
The controversy follows widespread outrage over Clarkson column on Markle in December.
He wrote that he hated her on a “cellular level”, and disliked her more than murderer Rose West. The column, which The Sun later removed and apologised for, is the most complained about article ever.
Clarkson later apologised to Meghan and Prince Harry, but they rejected it.
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