BBC Director General Tony Hall made the statement declaring the decision after a week-long investigation made by Ken MacQuarrie, the director of BBC Scotland.
Clarkson “crossed a line,” Hall stated, saying that in light of the physical and verbal abuse conducted by the presenter, they will not be renewing his contract.
MacQuarrie’s investigation findings state that on the 4th of March, the Top Gear crew and the presenters traveled to North Yorkshire for location filming after a day’s worth of in-studio work.
At the Simonstone Hall Hotel, Clarkson physically attacked Tymon, who offered no retaliation. “derogatory and abusive language, relating to Oisin Tymon and other members of the Top Gear team, continued to be used by Jeremy Clarkson inside the hotel, in the presence of others, for a sustained period of time’
Clarkson subsequently made a number of attempts to apologize to the producer before reporting the incident himself to BBC management.
“I’ve always been a fan of his work on Top Gear,” Hall said. “I also believe that his voice and voices like his have a really important place in the BBC, but not at any price.”
Hall says Top Gear will continue, but, “it will be different.”
That being said, there’s no news regarding the if other presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, will continue to be on board.
For now, however, the Top Gear as we know it, has come to an unceremonious end. There will indeed be a future for the show, and it might even be exceptional, but it will never be the same.
Update:
Clarkson’s fellow Top Gear presenters have responded in their own ways, following the announcement. Richard Hammond tweeted quite simply his regret of the situation, marking it as “an end of an era,” while James May had a little more to say, hinting that the TG boys travel as a pack.
Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We’re all three of us idiots in our different ways but it’s been an incredible ride together.
— Richard Hammond (@RichardHammond) March 25, 2015
While besieged by reporters in front of his home while on his way to “write the eBay listing for [his] Ferrari,” May seemed quite pro-Clarkson, saying to Sky News of the incident “I’m sorry that what ought to have been a small incident, sorted out easily, turned into something big.”
When asked about the future of Top Gear, he was confident the show itself would be fine, but his future to continue with the show “will require a lot of careful thought”
“… The three of us as a package, it works for very complicated reasons that a lot of people don’t fully understand,” May went on to say. His solidarity for his fallen comrade shone through at the end when, after being asked who he’d like to work with (as a replacement for Clarkson), he stated flatly ” as much as I think He’s a knob, I quite like working with Jeremy.”
