Jeremy Clarkson to return to the BBC less than a month after Top Gear exit
Former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is already set for his BBC return less than a month after being sacked for punching a producer in an “unprovoked” attack.
Announcing the sacking last month, BBC director-general Lord Hall said that Clarkson had failed to maintain“standards of decency and respect” whilst working after an “unprovoked physical and verbal attack” on producer Oisin Tymon.
He was found guilty of “a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature” which left Mr Tymon needing hospital treatment.
Now Clarkson will return to the BBC as the host of Have I Got News for You on 24 April, less than a month after the decision was made to sack him.
“Jeremy’s contract has not been renewed on Top Gear but he isn’t banned from appearing on the BBC,” a BBC spokesman said.
Top Gear will continue, although it is unclear whether James May and Richard Hammond will remain.
However Mr Tymon’s lawyer Paul Daniels has since issued a statement saying: “Mr Tymon has informed the police that he doesn’t want to press charges.
Police yesterday confirmed that Clarkson would not face charges.
A petition set up by Guido Fawkes blogger on Change.org to bring back Clarkson has been signed by over a million people.
Clarkson has been accused of homophobia in the past.
He apologised last year for a tweet he sent containing a picture of himself with a sign saying “gay c*nt”.
Clarkson tweeted the image featuring fellow Top Gear host James May, along with the caption “Sadly, I fell asleep on the plane.”
Piers Morgan tweeted to criticise the Top Gear presenter for the tweet, noting his “flabby neck”.
In 2010, Clarkson was criticised for appearing on the show with Alistair Campbell, and in a scene which was deleted saying: “I demand the right not to be bummed.”
