Jeremy Clarkson courted by Russian Ministry of Defence TV station to present motoring show
Could a Tsar in a reasonably priced car be coming to Russian TV soon?
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Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Clarkson is reportedly wanted by a Russian TV station to present a motoring show.
TV network Zvezda, which is owned by the Russian Ministry of Defence, published an open letter on its website in English inviting Clarkson to accept its offer to front a Russian version of Top Gear.
“We would like to invite you to be a presenter of motoring show [sic] on our TV channel in Moscow. We would like to discuss all the details in person so we can invite you to visit Moscow at the beginning of April.”
The station’s website purports to have been given a response by Daniel Rix, a supposed spokesman for Clarkson.
In Rix's response to the open letter, in which his email address has been blurred out, he wrote: “I can only imagine what an episode of Russian Top Gear would look like. It could feature a Tsar in a reasonably priced car!”
Zvezda, which began broadcasting around the clock in 2005, largely broadcasts shows with patriotic themes including news coverage and Russian movies.
Clarkson has yet to make any comment himself about the offer following his dismissal by the BBC on Wednesday.
The BBC announced that Clarkson’s contract with Top Gear would not be renewed after an internal investigation by the broadcaster found that he had launched an “unprovoked physical and verbal attack” on producer Oisin Tymon, who subsequently drove himself to A&E.
Most major UK broadcasters have ruled themselves out of working with the disgraced presenter.
Channel 4 released a statement saying it “had no plans” to work with Clarkson, ITV refused to comment on a “BBC issue” and it is understand that Sky are not interested in working it him.
BBC creative director Alan Yentob said he would not rule out the possibility of the Top Gear giant making a return in the future.
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