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Meghan Markleand Prince Harry are speaking out against Jeremy Clarkson’s new public apology for the offensive article he wrote about the Duchess of Sussex in December.
The 62-year-old British broadcaster shared a statement onInstagramMonday, expressing remorse for writing thecontroversial articlethat was published inThe Sunlast month where he vented about his “hate” for Meghan “on a cellular level.” He also claimed to have reached out to both Meghan and Harry on Christmas Day.
However, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex refutes Clarkson’s claim, saying that he only reached out to Harry.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE Monday, the spokesperson said, “On December 25, 2022, Mr. Clarkson wrote solely toPrince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. The contents of his correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.”
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Clarkson’s apology hit social media earlier Monday, where he began, “One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologise for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it’s never enough for the people who called for it in the first place.”
“So I’m going to try and buck the trend this morning with an apology for the things I said in a Sun column recently aboutMeghan Markle. I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up. It’s a mea culpa with bells on,” he wrote.
“Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send,” he continued. “And then, when the column appeared the next day, the land mine exploded.”
Clarkson said he felt “sick” to see the “horrible” story in print, alleging, “I’d been thinking of the scene in Game of Thrones, but I’d forgotten to mention this. So it looked like I was actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan’s head.” (In the original article, Clarkson wrote, “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.")
“So can I move on now? Not sure. It’s hard to be interesting and vigilant at the same time… But I promise you this, I will try,” he concluded.
Clarkson’s original article, published Dec. 16, sparked immense backlash, with more than 6,000 complaints being made to press regulator IPSO about the piece, according to theBBC. It has since been deleted online.
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“When we’re talking about accountability, you know, just recently, which I know you know about, um you know, the Jeremy Clarkson article,” the Duke of Sussex said. “So not only did, what he said was horrific and is hurtful and cruel towards my wife, but it also encourages other people around the U.K. and around the world, men particularly, to go and think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.”
“You know, to use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violent – violence against women,” Harry added, referencingQueen Camilla’srecent speechat Buckingham Palace reception to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.
InSpare, Harry writes about the media mistreatment his wife suffered while living in the U.K., and how the palace failed to protect her. The couple similarly opened up about thesocial media threatsthey’ve received in recent years in their docuseriesHarry & Meghan, now streaming on Netflix.
In one jarring recollection, Meghan spoke about a tweet that said, “Meghan just needs to die. Someone needs to kill her. Maybe it should be me.”
“And I was just like, ‘Okay.’ That’s, like, what’s actually out in the world because of people creating hate,” she said in the docuseries.
source: people.com
