Over 34,000 fans sign petition urging ITV boss Carolyn McCall not to sack ... trends now
A petition urging ITV boss Carolyn McCall not to sack Jeremy Clarkson from Who Wants to be a Millionaire? following his controversial column about Meghan Markle has now reached more than 34,000 signatures.
The campaign - which was started by the Free Speech Union on change.org - condemns the outcry against the former BBC petrolhead.
It says the reaction has been 'completely disproportionate' and adds that sacking Clarkson would be 'an example of cancel culture at its worst'.
It comes after his column in The Sun in which he said he 'hated' Meghan Markle - and added he dreamed of the duchess being paraded naked through British towns and having excrement thrown at her.
Petition makers also urged Carolyn McCall, ITV's CEO, 'to bear in mind the price Jeremy Clarkson has already paid for his remarks'.
A petition urging ITV boss Carolyn McCall not to sack Jeremy Clarkson from Who Wants to be a Millionaire? following his controversial column about Meghan Markle has hit 34,000 signatures
Jeremy Clarkson is thought to be paid about £3million a year to present the hit quiz show, having taken over from Chris Tarrant in 2018
Jeremy Clarkson wrote a controversial column about Meghan Markle (pictured with Harry on December 6) in The Sun, where he said he dreamed of the Duchess having excrement thrown at her
The petition, which began two days ago, is steadily growing and now 23,000 people have added their names to the list – up from 10,000 only yesterday. The goal has been increased from 15,000 to 25,000.
Ms McCall recently cast doubt on Clarkson's future on the network when she told MP John Nicolson his views were 'in no way endorsed by ITV.'
In his column in The Sun, Clarkson wrote about the Duchess of Sussex: 'I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.
'At night, I'm unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, "Shame!" and throw lumps of excrement at her.
'Everyone who's my age thinks the same way.'
It quickly became the Independent Press Standards Organisation's (Ipso) most complained-about article after its publication, with many branding his comments 'misogynistic'.
The Sun later apologised and said it regretted the publication of the column, which has surpassed more than 25,000 Ipso complaints.
Even Clarkson's own daughter made a public statement in which she condemned her father's comments.
But the 62-year-old TV presenter, who also experienced his fair share of controversy while working on Top Gear for the BBC, has a loyal fan base who seem prepared to back him despite what Clarkson himself described as 'disgraceful' language.
After Clarkson was fired by the BBC after punching a producer of Top Gear in 2015, a petition launched to reinstate him on the show had over one million supporters.
Now a petition set up by the Free Speech Union appeals to ITV bosses to 'please don't fire Jeremy Clarkson' and claims that some of those who opposed the column in the aftermath of its publication 'do not appear to really believe Mr Clarkson’s remarks put anyone at risk.'
The statement claims that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are attempting to 'destroy Mr Clarkson's career' and are therefore 'far more harmful to him than anything he said about the Duchess'.
It adds that a decision to fire Clarkson would amount to 'cancel culture at its worst' and claims ITV should 'bear in mind the price Jeremy Clarkson has already paid for his remarks'.
The founder wrote: 'Amazon has indicated it will not commission any more seasons of Clarkson's Farm or The Grand Tour and his Sun column has not appeared in the newspaper again, suggesting he has lost that, too.
'Is he to be punished even further by losing his only other main source of income? The punishment is already completely disproportionate to the crime, without you compounding his humiliation.'
In a recent poll created by MailOnline, of more than 3,000 people, some 78 per cent backed the former Top Gear host to keep presenting the quiz show, while just 19 per cent thought he should be sacked.
Three per cent said they were unsure.
After his column provoked outrage, Clarkson wrote to the Sussexes to apologise on Christmas Day - although the couple later claimed his letter only addressed Harry directly.
However, his future at ITV now seems to hang in the balance.
Dame Carolyn wrote a letter to Mr Nicolson in response to correspondence he sent asking if Clarkson's comments went against ITV's Statement of Programme Policy and Social Purpose Strategy.
In the response, which was published by entertainment website Deadline, did not say whether he would lose
