From Getting Tattoos Jeremy Clarkson’s column about the Duchess of Sussex has become the Independent Press Standards Organization’s most complained about article ever.
The regulator said the piece, which has since been removed from The Sun’s website at Clarkson’s request, had received more than 20,800 complaints as of 5pm on Tuesday.
“We will follow our usual processes to examine the complaints we have received. This will take longer than usual because of the volume of complaints,” an IPSO spokesperson said, adding that the number of complaints would be subject to change.
The number also surpassed the total number of complaints the media regulator received in 2021, which was 14,355.
It comes as more than 60 MPs have written to the editor of The Sun condemning the column “in the strongest terms” – after the presenter said Meghan should “parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain”.
The letter put forward by Conservative MP Caroline Nokes demanded that the publication act against Clarkson.
It said the former Top Gear presenter’s “hateful” article about Meghan Markle had contributed to an “unacceptable climate of hatred and violence”.
His column, which was published on Sunday, said he was “dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”.
The remarks were met were backlash, with Clarkson’s daughter Emily, as well as many others, speaking out against him.
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Clarkson responded to the backlash with a statement, in which he pleaded to be more careful in the future.
However, this has been criticized for not including an apology.
