[rajeev k]

Jeremy Clarkson has cut short his controversial trip to Argentina after being given an ultimatum to leave by outraged Falklands war veterans or “face the consequences.”
source & link http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/517...ar-numberplate

This comes after Argentinian ex-soldiers stopped the presenter's Porsche - whose numberplate seemed to reference the Falklands War - at a roadblock before marching to his luxury hotel to demand he and his Top Gear team abandon the area.

Clarkson is understood to have checked out of his hotel early and fled to Chile after he was blasted for driving a car bearing the "provocative" plate - H982 FKL - to travel part of the famous Patagonian Highway.

Top Gear bosses insisted the plate had not been chosen deliberately and was a pure coincidence.

But as paranoia gripped the southern Argentinian city of Ushuaia, officials upped the ante against Clarkson and his co-producers by accusing them of deliberate provocation.

[Autodoc]

Yeah sure, not deliberately. Lol.

Clarkson has courted controversy again though unsurprisingly. I sincerely hope that he doesn't get fired. I feel that the issue was blown out of proportion. Daily Mail and Guardian reports that their cars; a porsche, lotus and Mustang were stoned and they had to abandon it and flee from the hotel with police escort.

"Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano said the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war - and the numbers 646 on the Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties"

That's just plainly extrapolating things for controversy. Hope BBC doesn't cancel the Christmas Special

Sunny

[gatham.psb]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Jeremy Clarkson has cut short his controversial trip to Argentina after being given an ultimatum to leave by outraged Falklands war veterans or “face the consequences.”
source & link http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/517...ar-numberplate

Originally Posted by Autodoc

Yeah sure, not deliberately. Lol.

Clarkson has courted controversy again though unsurprisingly. I sincerely hope that he doesn't get fired. I feel that the issue was blown out of proportion. Daily Mail and Guardian reports that their cars; a porche, lotus and Mustang were stoned and they had to abandon it and flee from the hotel with police escort.

"Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano said the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war - and the numbers 646 on the Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties"

That's just plainly extrapolating things for controversy. Hope BBC doesn't cancel the Christmas Special

Sunny

Just read on Jalopnik that the license plate was registered in 1991. It sure looks like it was tough to find this particular license plate. Anyway, will make a good episode to watch.

Source:
http://jalopnik.com/fwiw-that-plate-...sch-1642087174

[mayankk]

"could reference", " can be seen to", these statements imply subtlety.
Clarkson, subtle?
Though he's a Brit, tongue in cheek is most definitely not his way.
This sounds like the movie, number 23.

[MARCUS_520i]

I think if they fire him, or just cancel the gig, it'll all be Clarkson's fault. You can get away with being silly(even at this age) once, maybe twice; but all the time?!? That's wishful thinking.

I am a fan of the show, yes. But entertainment at the cost of causing a furore in foreign land? That's the kind of thing even pre-adolescents would know not to mess with.

And this has been happening time and again now, which is kinda giving out an off vibe outta the whole scene. Pretty much makes Clarkson a potential politician, IMO.

Totally not cool for an otherwise really cool guy. Apologize he will; as always. I say sack him. Maybe that'll help him gain a bit of that much needed maturity.

[Arkin evoisrevo]

He'd been warned:

Jeremy Clarkson has been ordered not to cause a diplomatic row during a Top Gear road trip to Argentina.

BBC bosses gave the presenter, 54, the ultimatum after allowing the show to film its Christmas special in Patagonia this week.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/j...#ixzz3F6nM5YG4

[ashwin1224]

Originally Posted by MARCUS_520i

....

Totally not cool for an otherwise really cool guy. Apologize he will; as always. I say sack him. Maybe that'll help him gain a bit of that much needed maturity.

Just no man. The show is such a success because of the chemistry between the three old dudes. No other group of presenters can even remotely come close to the Hamster, Capt. Slow [or Mr. Slowly as the Italians call him] and Jezza. Eliminating Jezza from the equation will just ruin the magic.

Also, its his douche-ness that defines him. He has a great grip on dark humor and it is part of his charm. Regardless, I dont think he did the number plate thing intentionally. Heck, he might have noticed only after people started heckling him. Subtlety is evident in the show everywhere, but that is not the Jezza way. If Jeremy was going to bring this issue up intentionally, he would've painted a map of the Falklands with a Union Jack next to it and a message that said "God Save the Queen."

I found another article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...Argentina.html

All I can think of after reading the title :" Tonight on Top Gear, I get stoned, James gets stoned and Richard, gets stoned "

[Speed.Demon]

Oh, not again!

Why does everyone take him so seriously? Look, Jezza is no saint, but he just does what he does because it's funny.

Media just blowing things out of proportion, as usual.

[shankar.balan]

Excessive political correctness, excessive racial sensitivity, zero sense of humour, is what all this points to.
People are way too apt to take offence and every Pedro, Jimenez, Patel, Muthuraman, M'Beka and Ang Lee can bang on, on social media and elsewhere about how they feel a deep racial slur etc every time a simple funny veiled reference is made to any race by error of commission or omission even!
This is getting faintly ridiculous.
The essence of good humour is to NOT take one's self or anything else too seriously and indeed, to learn to laugh at one's self.
But NO, we won't do that. We will only crib and walk about waving flags with our bleeding hearts on our sleeves...in the hope of some cheap, free publicity and moments in the sun.

Originally Posted by Speed.Demon

Oh, not again!

Why does everyone take him so seriously? Look, Jezza is no saint, but he just does what he does because it's funny.

Media just blowing things out of proportion, as usual.

[DocRock]

The producer claims that it was a pure coincidence and anyways Clarkson has always made fun of their hosts and he never fails to make fun of his own country and politics.
His comments are not to be taken seriously.

And also didn't Argentina try to invade the Falklands which didn't belong to them and lost the war. What are they so upset about?

[iamendangered]

He's come as close to apologizing as he ever will on twitter, but maintaining all the while that it all was a coincidence & it was not his or TG's fault

Although personally I feel he crosses the line many times when it comes to other nations & stereotypes, we have to remember that this is more an entertainment show, not a show you will watch before selecting your next car, not most people atleast

People do have a right to get angry about things that are important, hiding behind 'comedians license' is not always fair, there is a time & place for everything, if the TG team was warned at any point about the potential of this happening, the crew should've stepped in and do what was neccessary

Apologize for the bipolar opinion, I sincerely hope the show continues & maybe an apology should be tendered if national/patriotic sentiments have been hurt

[CoolBlueBiker]

This is not the first time Clarkson has taken a jibe at a foreign country. I have lost count on the number of times he has ridiculed the US. Even recently, the Indian High Commission in London had formally complained to the BBC about an 'India special' episode in which Clarkson traveled round the country in a Jaguar with a toilet fixed to the boot.

Anybody following Top Gear over a period of time would have noticed his overt bias to British cars and all things British. I can understand that any person should be passionate about his country of origin. But, demeaning other's national sentiments is rude and unacceptable; even in the name of creative license. An apology should be issued by Clarkson and BBC should see to it that such instances do not resurface.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by CoolBlueBiker

Even recently, the Indian High Commission in London had formally complained to the BBC about an 'India special' episode in which Clarkson traveled round the country in a Jaguar with a toilet fixed to the boot.

But, demeaning other's national sentiments is rude and unacceptable; even in the name of creative license. An apology should be issued by Clarkson and BBC should see to it that such instances do not resurface.

I seem to recall that he fixed that toilet to his Jaguar because as he states: "everybody that visits India will at some time suffer from Delhi-belly" or words to that effect.

Having lived in India for more than two years, I can confirm that just about all our European and American visitors that have come and stayed with us, came down with 'belly' trouble at some time. I suffered terribly for more than a year, with multiple ER visits.

Clarkson has made fun of the Dutch multiple times over the years, accusing us of spending our days watching porn and smoking pot. It's probably further from the truth than the likelihood of travelers catching a bout of Delhi-Belly in India.

Still, you don't see me complaining. Lighten up people, just because you feel offended doesn't mean you are right my mum always taught me. But then again, she was Dutch, although I'm pretty sure she never smoked pot.

I sort of get it why people might not like/enjoy Clarkson. What I totally don't get is why people feel offended by him. That means you must take him serious. Who's the fool now?

Jeroen

[Anghammarad]

Ye, people need to learn to laugh at themselves a lot more and take offense at silly nonsense a lot less. Completely agree with you Jeroen.

""Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano said the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war - and the numbers 646 on the Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties"
Yes, and the colour red is close to the colour of the blood spilt during the war, and the color green is close to the color of fatigues worn by soldiers blah blah blah. Despicable reaching to create drama in my opinion

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by ashwin1224

All I can think of after reading the title :" Tonight on Top Gear, I get stoned, James gets stoned and Richard, gets stoned "

That was funny and I really do wish they can complete their episode as the cars they have are just amazing.