A spokesperson for and has called out The Sun’s apology after columnist wrote a hate-filled rant against the Duchess of Sussex.
On Friday (December 23), saying it regrets the publication of Clarkson’s column, where he wrote that he had dreamed of Meghan being paraded through British towns and publicly shamed, and that it was ‘sincerely sorry’.
The paper said: ‘In last Saturday’s Sun, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a comment article about the Duchess of Sussex. It provoked a strong response and led to a large number of complaints to Ipso, the independent press regulator.
‘In a tweet earlier this week, Jeremy said he had made a “clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones”, which had “gone down badly with a great many people” and he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”. He also said he will be more careful in future.
‘Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher we realise that with free expression comes responsibility. We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry.’
The newspaper added that the article had also been removed from their archives as well as their website.
Their statement continued: ‘The Sun has a proud history of campaigning, from Help for Heroes to Jabs Army, Who Cares Wins and over 50 years of working in partnership with charities, our campaigns have helped change Britain for the better.
‘Working with our readers, The Sun has helped to bring about new legislation on domestic abuse, provided beds in refuges, closed harmful loopholes in the law and empowered survivors of abuse to come forward and seek help. We will continue to campaign for good causes on behalf of our readers in 2023.’
Now, a statement from a spokesperson for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared with the PA news agency on Saturday, has said: ‘The fact that the Sun has not contacted The Duchess of Sussex to apologise shows their intent.
‘This is nothing more than a PR stunt. While the public absolutely deserves the publication’s regrets for their dangerous comments, we wouldn’t be in this situation if The Sun did not continue to profit off of and exploit hate, violence and misogyny.’
They added: ‘A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all.
‘Unfortunately, we’re not holding our breath.’
The former Top Gear presenter previously said that he hated Meghan ‘on a cellular level’, adding that his feelings for her keep him awake at night.
Writing for The Sun, the Clarkson’s Farm star said he despises ’s wife more than he does Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, and the serial killer Rose West.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host said that he felt ‘sorry’ for Prince Harry, who he dubbed a ‘glove puppet’, claiming that the Prince is ‘controlled by his wife.‘
His piece became the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s (Ipso) most complained-about article.
Ipso said the piece, which was removed on Monday at Clarkson’s request, had received more than 17,500 complaints as of 9am on Tuesday – rising to 20,800 by 5pm.
Clarkson has been widely condemned, with his own daughter also making it clear she does not support his comments.
Amongst the first to publicly call out the accomplished broadcaster, she wrote in a social media post: ‘I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.’
Other celebrities who reacted in horror included Carol Vorderman, Dan Walker, and Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, who stated on This Morning that Clarkson ‘needs to be muzzled’.
