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Top Gear return in doubt as BBC pulls remaining episodes after Jeremy Clarkson suspension

Top Gear has been put on hold while the Clarkson incident is investigated

Jess Denham
Wednesday 11 March 2015 06:05 EDT
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Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC
Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC (Getty Images)

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Fans of Top Gear may have seen the last of the popular motoring show, after Jeremy Clarkson was suspended by the BBC yesterday following a “fracas” with a producer.

The broadcaster is reportedly refusing to make any further comment after a brief statement on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that Sunday night’s episode has been cancelled.

Remaining episodes in the current series have also been pulled while the investigation is underway.

Clarkson was told not to comment on his suspension but soon began joking about it on Twitter with Top Gear co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May.

Should the complaint against the 54-year-old presenter be upheld, there will likely be pressure to sack him, after he was put on a final warning by the BBC last year following a string of racism accusations.

Clarkson came under fire for using the N-word while reciting nursery rhyme “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe” during filming of Top Gear. His “slope” remarks in the show’s Burma special also sparked outrage.

Other controversies involving Clarkson include a protest from mental health charities after he described people who kill themselves under trains as “selfish” and the time when he told The One Show that striking workers deserved to be shot.

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