On Jeremy Clarkson

I used to be an admirer of Jeremy Clarkson, an ardent fan even, of his style of presenting and his irreverent humour on Top Gear since 1988. However, it appears that there comes a point in the life of many celebrities where they start to believe they can do no wrong. This point signals the beginning of the end.

I had begun to notice my own displeasure with Jeremy's runaway hubris in the last couple of years. It started with him referring to Tata as a company 'which makes horrid cars for people who are fed up with falling off their motor scooters'. Perhaps this joke would hurt only an Indian, but then he went on to call a Burmese person a 'slope' which is about equivalent of calling a black person a 'n-g--r'. He did that too, used the N word as part of a nursery rhyme he made up. And he was reprimanded by the BBC for drinking a gin-and-tonic while behind the wheel of a pickup truck.

All this culminated earlier this month with him verbally abusing a producer on Top Gear for serving him a cold meal when he wanted a steak. It does not end there. His Jereminess then proceeded to physically assault the producer Oisin Tymon, giving him a broken lip and bleeding nose. Even after the assault, he continued to verbally assault Oisin for another half hour in so loud a voice that he could be heard in the bedrooms in the hotel.

Kudos to the BBC for suspending him. The decision is especially admirable given that Top Gear generates a revenue of $225 million, but as BBC said, "he crossed a line".

A solemn nod to the BBC.