Movies

ITV Boss responds – Deadline

January 18, 2023

EXCLUSIVE: ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said there was ‘no place on ITV’ for Meghan Markle’s Jeremy Clarkson comments and pointed out that Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? “does not provide a platform for his opinions.”

In a letter sent Dec. 22 and first published today by Deadline, McCall responded to Scottish lawmaker John Nicolson’s call to remove Clarkson from his Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? hosting functions, which Clarkson has been running for five years. Scroll down for the full letter.

“Your concerns are completely understandable,” McCall wrote. “Everyone at ITV is very aware of our responsibilities as a public service broadcaster and I would like to be clear that the comments made were those of Jeremy Clarkson and are in no way endorsed by ITV. is no place on ITV for the comments made in this article.

Deadline revealed McCall’s letter as ITV assesses Clarkson’s future Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Only one series remains – due to be filmed next month and aired over the summer – on his current contract, although ITV program director Kevin Lygo has said he will continue in as host during a press briefing in late December, around the time McCall sent her. letter.

The December 16 column, which was retracted by The sun and is the most criticized article of all time by the UK newspaper regulator, including the former Top of the line host saying he “dreamed of the day when [Markle] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain as crowds chant “Shame!”, in a callback to a game of thrones stage.

McCall, who has made no public statement about the former Top of the line the host column, said Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? “is not a platform for [Clarkson’s] opinions”, while emphasizing that he is not employed by the broadcaster.

Nicolson, who has long campaigned on issues of British culture and media space, had written to McCall following the publication of the column with a call to drop Clarkson, whose comments he said went to against ITV’s Program Policy and Social Goal Strategy Statement. About 50 MPs sent a similar open letter to The Sun, owned by Rupert Murdoch, on December 18, which quickly retracted the column.

As ITV ponders Clarkson’s future, Amazon Prime Video is likely to part ways with the 62-year-old once the seasons are underway. The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm dilapidated next year, according to a Variety report earlier this week.

Clarkson issued a lengthy apology for the column on Monday, which was flatly dismissed in a statement from Markle and her husband, Prince Harry.

The full letter

Dear Mr Nicolson,

Thank you for your recent letter regarding comments made by Jeremy Clarkson in his Sun newspaper column.

Your concerns are completely understandable. ITV has no editorial control over Jeremy Clarkson’s independent journalistic output in The Sun or wherever he chooses to publish.

Everyone at ITV is very aware of our responsibilities as a public service broadcaster and I would like to clarify that the comments made are those of Jeremy Clarkson and are in no way endorsed by ITV. There is no room on ITV for comments made in this article.

It should also be added that Jeremy Clarkson is not an ITV employee and when he appears on ITV it is as a quiz host on a show which does not provide a platform for his opinions.

I hope this reassures you of ITV’s position and thank you again for raising your concerns.

Sincere friendships,