Jeremy Clarkson: I’m not homophobic, I enjoy watching lesbians on the internet
Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May attend a screening of ‘The Grand Tour’ season 3 held at The Brewery on January 15, 2019 in London, England. (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty)
The Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson has pushed back at accusations of homophobia from gay singer Will Young by cracking jokes about lesbian porn.
LGBT+ campaigner and musician Will Young had hit out at Clarkson after a recent episode of Amazon motoring show The Grand Tour was packed with apparent gay jokes.
Young accused Clarkson and co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May of peddling “f**king pathetic” homophobia over a running gag alluding to a Jeep Wrangler being ‘gay’.
The January 27 episode of the Amazon show also saw Clarkson ask whether LGBT stands for “lesbian, bacon, transgender.”
The Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson hits back at Will Young with ‘breathalyser’ jibe
The ex-Top Gear presenter hit back at the allegations in his regular column for The Sun, writing: “Many gay people who’d seen the show said they couldn’t see a problem. None of my leftie friends could either.”
Jeremy Clarkson attends the Amber Lounge Charity Fashion event at Le Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel on May 24, 2013 in Monaco, Monaco. (Mark Thompson/Getty)
In a personal jibe aimed at Young, Clarkson wrote: “One even said I should tell him to stop being so gay. I won’t do that though.
“And nor will I suggest, once again, that mobile phones should be fitted with breathalysers to stop people drinking and tweeting.”
He added: “Instead, I will apologise to Will for causing him some upset and reassure him that I know I’m not homophobic as I very much enjoy watching lesbians on the internet.”
The Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson has been repeatedly accused of homophobia
The Grand Tour was launched by Amazon after Clarkson was fired from the BBC’s Top Gear in 2015 for allegedly punching a producer in the face.
Prior to the firing, Clarkson and his co-hosts frequently came under fire for derogatory jokes they made on the BBC show.
Clarkson was nominated for Stonewall’s Bigot of the Year award in 2007 for refusing to apologise for using homophobic slurs on Top Gear.
He had told an audience member that he would not buy a car because it was “a bit gay” and “very ginger beer,” which is rhyming slang for “queer.”
The BBC took no action against Mr Clarkson for the incident, nor three years later when he “demanded the right not to be bummed,” nor 2014 when he posted a picture of himself and a sign saying “gay c*nt.”
Meanwhile, Richard Hammond was mocked in 2016 when he said that he didn’t eat ice cream, explaining that it was “something to do with being straight.”
Clarkson is a frequent critic of transgender rights, claiming in a 2016 column that trans people had their minds “poisoned” by “lunatic” parents.
Attacking calls for gender-neutral toilets in Parliament in a subsequent column, Clarkson wrote: “You might as well install urinals suitable for Klingons.”
