Jeremy Clarkson Complaints Dismissed by Ofcom

Jeremy Clarkson was invited to the BBC1’s The One Show’ last November where he remarked that the striking public sector workers should be shot. Striking controversy once again, Clarkson’s comment caused more than 30,000 complaints to the BBC and almost 800 to media regulator Ofcom.

Responding to the public reaction, Ofcom held an investigation to decide whether the show had broken any rules on taste and decency. Finally, Ofcom has announced that the program is cleared of breaching broadcasting regulations, defending that viewers should be familiar with Jeremy Clarkson’s “provocative and outspoken nature.”

Ofcom director Christopher Woolard stated in a four-page letter that, “The editorial nature of the program as a whole would have prepared viewers for the type of comments Jeremy Clarkson would be likely to make” and when considering Clarkson’s “well-established public persona,” Clarkson’s comment wasn’t overly offensive.

Woolard also added that, “The audience for this edition of The One Show would have expected Jeremy Clarkson to make potentially controversial or offensive statements… his comments were not an expression of seriously held beliefs or views that should be literally interpreted.”

In the past, Jeremy Clarkson has always been known to make a wide range of brash remarks. By now, victims to Clarkson’s insensitivity will have to accept this is only Clarkson being himself.

Check out Jeremy Clarkson’s controversial segment on The One Show after the jump:

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