Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear sacking delights angry Argentinians: 'This is what happens when you mock the Falklands'
The news that the BBC will not renew Jeremy Clarkson’s contract has not been lamented by all
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.“This is what happens when you mock the Falklands,” is the cutting remark made by one Argentinian at the news of Jeremy Clarkson’s sacking.
The remark appeared at the bottom of an article detailing the end of Clarkson’s career at the BBC, on the website for the Argentinian newspaper Clarin. Pixtica Favre called the Falkland Islands by their Spanish name, Malvinas, in his comment.
On other Argentinian news sites users celebrated the end of Clarkson’s Top Gear career with vigour. One person called the former Top Gear presenter a “disrespectful pig” who should be “sent to North Korea for some 10 years in a re-education camp,” while others simply referred to his fate as “Karma,” the Express reports.
The Top Gear presenter and his team were forced to abandon their filming in Argentina last October after an angry crowd took offence to the number plate on a Porsche being driven by the team, which ended in “FKL”.
It was seen by the crowd to be making a reference to the 1982 Falklands War, in which hundreds of people died. Clarkson described afterwards seeing people hurling brick and rocks at the team’s cars, before state representatives arrived at their hotel to “order us out of the country”.
At the time, Clarkson wrote on Twitter that he and the team had done "nothing wrong".
He said: “All TG crew now safely out of Argentina. I just got back to UK.
“The number plate WAS a coincidence. When it was pointed out to us, we changed it.
“And these war veterans were upset. Mostly they were in their 20s. Do the maths.
“They threw us out for the political capital. Thousands chased crew to border. Someone could have been killed.
“This was not a jolly jape that went awry. For once, we did nothing wrong.”
But the Argentinian ambassador to the UK, Alicia Castro, accused Clarkson of “fabricating a horror story” with his description of the team’s experience, claiming the presenter had constructed a “tale designed to portray Argentines as savages” while making a “malicious mockery” of those who lost their lives during the war.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments