Pass notes No 3,015: Jeremy Clarkson

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The Top Gear presenter has been in the news for . . . well all kinds of things

Age: 51

Appearance: Monty Don's evil twin.

CV: Journalist, Top Gear presenter, Genesis fan.

By his works I know the man. What has he been up to? Not much.

So why are we speaking of him?

Because he's in the news.

For not much? Clarkson is like the weather – even when he's not doing anything interesting, he still makes the papers every day.

In what circumstances? He had a walk-on part in the phone-hacking scandal, as a putative member of the Chipping Norton set. And he was quoted approvingly in the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto.

That's hardly his fault. You can't stop murderers quoting columnists – not even with a paywall. He got off lightly. Melanie Phillips had one of her hell-in-a-handcart rants quoted in its entirety.

Well, that's not her fault either, although you might imagine me saying that with slightly less conviction. Where else has Clarkson cropped up?

He's been involved in a Twitter spat with George Michael.

There's a sentence to make the heart sink. Tell me more, if you must.Michael tweeted a funny remark about Clarkson, and Clarkson subsequently said, while reviewing the new Jaguar XKR-S on Top Gear: "In the corners it will get its tail out more readily than George Michael."

I have no idea whether that's a good or bad thing in a car. To which Michael tweeted in response, "Good grief Mr Clarkson. I wasn't implying your towering heterosexuality was in question. I had no desire to insult you!"

I'm bored. And then, after pausing several minutes for comic effect, he tweeted, "But I do now, you pig-ugly homophobic twat!!!!!"

Well, that showed him. Apparently not. Clarkson hadn't seen the original tweet. His Top Gear comment was just another of the casually offensive remarks for which he is so admired.

Do say: "Unless Clarkson does something newsworthy, I have no wish to comment."

Don't say: "But I do now, you pig-ugly homophobic twat!!!!!"

• Jeremy Clarkson
• Top Gear
• George Michael
• Twitter

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Jemima Kiss 26 Jul, 2011

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/25/pass-notes-jeremy-clarkson
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