Top Gear Host Jeremy Clarkson Suspended After ''Fracas'' With a BBC Producer, New Episode Pulled From Schedule

British network confirms that the long-running show will not air Sunday as previously scheduled

By Natalie Finn Mar 10, 2015 8:48 PMTags
Jeremy Clarkson, Top GearBBC

Did Jeremy Clarkson really hit a wall this time?

The longtime Top Gear presenter has been suspended indefinitely while the BBC investigates a run-in he had with a producer and the show won't be airing as scheduled in the U.K. this weekend, the British broadcaster confirmed Tuesday.

"Following a fracas with a BBC producer, Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," read the BBC's statement. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday. The BBC will be making no further comment at this time."

The announcement comes months after nothing happened to Clarkson after he supposedly mumbled the n-word while telling a joke during filming, footage that obviously didn't make it into a finished episode but did end up making its way to London's Daily Mirror tabloid last May. The 54-year-old funnyman and auto enthusiast insisted he had tried—insufficiently, apparently—to obscure the word, which was part of a crass rhyme.

"I did not use the N-word. Never use it. The Mirror has gone way too far this time," he said in an explanatory video. Production carried on despite Internet backlash and calls for him to be canned, but Clarkson was reportedly hanging by a thread at the BBC after the controversy.

Co-host James May tweeted at the time, "Jeremy Clarkson is not a racist. He is a monumental bellend and many other things, but not a racist. I wouldn't work with one. #ThatIsAll."

Just weeks later it was reported that Clarkson was on the verge of signing a $20 million contract, with a BBC source telling the U.K.'s Sunday People, "There is no question of Jeremy's deal not being renewed."

But now...

BBC

Per Radio Times, Clarkson aimed a punch at a Top Gear producer last week and the alleged assault was just brought to BBC officials' attention yesterday—meaning, they took pretty swift action in this case.

In addition to its actual humorous car-centric coverage, Top Gear, which airs in the U.S. on BBC America, is known for the A-list roster of celebs who take times laps around a track (solely for bragging rights) as the "star in a reasonably priced car." 

The show recently shared footage of Will Smith and Focus co-star Margot Robbie logging time with The Stig, the always-helmeted gearhead who assists the celebrity guests.