‘A line has been crossed’: Good Morning Britain’s Adil Ray condemns Jeremy Clarkson’s Meghan Markle rant
‘Our words have consequences,’ the GMB host said
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Adil Ray believes “a line has been crossed” by Jeremy Clarkson’s controversial rant about Meghan Markle.
While discussing Clarkson’s comments on Monday’s show (19 December), the Good Morning Britain host said: “Our words have consequences. We sometimes spark debate but we know our words have consequences.”
Clarkson found himself on the receiving end of backlash with his recent column for The Sun, published on Friday (16 December).
He wrote of Markle: “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming 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.”
The former Top Gear host said that he hates Markle, but not in the same way he hates Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West, for example: “I hate her on a cellular level,” he said.
GMB Co-host Charlotte Hawkins felt that the column should never have been published. “Bad enough to think it, bad enough to write it and bad enough to print it in the paper,” she stated.
Andrew Pierce, consultant editor at The Daily Mail, also weighed in on the issue, calling Clarkson’s rant “appalling”.
“It’s offensive on every single level. That is disgraceful, I’m amazed actually that it got in the paper,” he said.
The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire agreed. “If he thinks that, he needs help... He’s not just crossed the line, he’s leapt over it, he’s bounded over it, he’s pole-vaulted it.”
A number of celebrities and other public figures have had their say on the matter, including John Bishop, Carol Vorderman, and Kathy Burke.
Bishop tweeted: “I don’t care who you are or who you work for you simply can not write things like this. It is a blatant appeal to incite humiliation and violence on a woman.”
Khan called Clarkson’s words “dangerous and inexcusable”, stating that in an epidemic of violence against women and girls men with powerful voices “must do better than this”.
Clarkson’s daughter Emily also spoke out against her father’s comments on Markle.
“I want to make it clear that I stand against everything my father wrote about Meghan Markle,” she wrote on Instagram. “I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred”.
Today (Monday 19 December), it emerged that thousands of complaints had been made over Clarkson’s column to Ipso, the Independent Press Standards Organisation.