Jeremy Clarkson

What David Cameron said: Responding to the news, Prime Minister David Cameron said he believed that "if you do something wrong at work there can be consequences" and that "aggressive and abusive behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace".

Good that the BBC has got some balls at last when an employee abuses someone. I'm not talking about the non-PC stuff. That never bothered me.

The producer chappie who was hit should be left alone. He didn't report the incident, Clarkson did. I reckon he knew he'd gone too far.

If May said anything about a tragedy, I think he means that JC 'lost it' and so ended the programme as he, Hammond and JC have known it. May seems a decent sort. I'm sure he accepts the dismissal as fair.

I'm not condoning what he did but I think the BBC are on a hiding to nothing because they'll go to another channel, their fans will watch them wherever they are so the only loser will be the BBC.

So do you think they should have 'let him off' for the sake of the income Top Gear raked in, merlot?

Did they actually have another choice merlotgran? The man punched a colleague and subjected him to a foul mouth tirade if thats not crossing a line then I don't know what is. Who cares if they go elsewhere .

As far as I'm concerned this is a straightforward matter of workplace law. Jeremy Clarkson assaulted a colleague at work, he admitted it. Ergo, he had to be fired. If he had not been fired it would have set a precedent and also opened the BBC up to being sued for damages.
I am appalled at the continued abuse being meted out to the victim of the assault and think that Jeremy Clarkson might go some way to redeeming the situation by speaking out in support of Oisin Tymon and taking personal responsibility for the consequences of his own actions.

Very well put, ga

He's probably turned himself into a "toxic brand" with many companies.
Firstly because he has proved he cannot be trusted to treat other people with respect in the workplace. Who would want to work with him? Sleepless nights waiting for him to embarrass your company.
Secondly because doing a similar show on a commercial channel would be a problem as no car manufacturers (the obvious advertisers) would touch it with a bargepole - they'd be holding their breath, waiting for them to say something crushing about their latest model.
He's a journalist and I am sure will not need to sign on.

The Guardian says Oisin Tymon took himself to A&E after a 30-second physical attack caused swelling and bleeding to his lip, the inquiry found. It was accompanied by a sustained verbal tirade containing the “strongest expletives” and a threat to sack Tymon

Perhaps his supporters find that acceptable, many including me, don't.

Conversation/interview on PM Radio 4 between Eddie Mair and Alan Yentob just a minute or two ago.

Worth a listen. I thought Yentob was actually quite rude to Eddie.

Take responsibility? Never has so far in any of his toxic 'exploits' so highly unlikely to do so now.

No, Ana and tanith, I don't think the BBC should have let him off for the sake of the money but TV companies are obsessed with ratings so they are bound to be concerned about losing a huge income.

I notice Johnathan Ross, who was sacked by the BBC, is gradually being 'let back in'. It's only a matter of time before he lands another prime time show at the Beeb.

At no time during this thread have I condoned Jeremy Clarkson's behaviour.

I heard the DG speaking on the radio and his position seemed very reasonable - he had instigated an investigation which had shown that JC abused a fellow employee both physically and verbally and therefore he had to be sacked. End of.

A 30 second attack doesn't sound very long but I just sat here and looked at my watch for 30 seconds. It is a long time to be hitting someone. And Clarkson is a big powerful man. He should be locked up.
I am amazed at the amount of support he has received. His fans think the sun shines out of his ******.

No, I know you haven't merlot, it was just the 'hiding to nothing' statement I found confusing - it's not as though the BBC sacked JC for any other reason than his own stupid behaviour.

Yes, Jonathan Ross is certainly being employed sporadically by the BBC, he's currently standing in for Steve Wright on Radio 2 and has done so before.

Perhaps it was the wrong choice of words, Ana but they obviously had to sack him so could lose out with income and ratings.

I heard some of the too phoenix and thought that Alan Yentob came across as arrogant and rude and quite obviously a supporter of Clarkson.Glad to hear that Greg Dyke has spoken out against Clarkson and said that his behaviour was unacceptable. This wasn't just someone losing their temper and pushing another person, which would be bad enough, as soon said, just look at your watch for 30 seconds, that is a long time to be being hit, and it would appear that Clarkson only stopped when he was pulled off the producer.

if you have ever been hit in the face you will know it is really, really horrible. It looks like nothing on the TV and films but it is a real shock. Great sympathy for the young man who was bullied, abused and attacked. Far more detail has been released than would normally be the case e.g. if he was an actual employee.

Just seen James May in 6 o'clock news - he said it was ' a tragedy' and a 'small thing'. WTF? He then made a joke and went inside. Nice man....

Also police want to see the BBC's report.... We can but hope....

I have 2 grandsons who watch the programme avidly - if Clarkson had got away with his behaviour what sort of message would that send the young?

The wrong sort of message certainly, whitewave but do you remember the roistering and sometimes violent behaviour of some of the stars of days gone by? Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Oliver Reed et al. They were huge stars who earned their film companies mega bucks.

They were usually hailed as heroes and nobody gave a damn about the message they might send out.

Funny old world.

I also know you didn't condone the behaviour merlot, I just wondered what alternative there was?

Well Eddie Mair is my hero now, for standing his ground against Yentob.
Yentob refused to say that JC had been sacked, only that his contract wasn't being renewed, and it didn't matter that JC was still being paid out if taxpayers' money till the end of the week
Yentob then, as phoenix says, was really quite rude to Eddie, saying that he couldn't believe Eddie was seriously questioning the appropriateness of paying Clarkson for the remaining 4 days of his contract. He said something like 'you're kidding me Eddie if you are really asking me that question'
Let's hope that Eddie's contract is renewed!
Then on the news, we were informed that Clarkson had been 'axed'.
Axed? What's wrong with the S-word?
There then followed an elegiac account of Clarkson's career on the Beeb, in hallowed tones.
mrA actually came in from the garage mid-eulogy and said 'Has he died?'
I know we are used to media people bigging themselves up, but this was beyond the pale.

Merlot - you are talking about a very different time. Things have changed - it's really quite irrelevant now how these men behaved and were treated - actress temps, alters moeurs as they say.

Oh bloody hell auto correct - autres temps, autres moeurs as I tried to say!