People aren't buying Jeremy Clarkson's excuse for Meghan Markle slur

Jeremy Clarkson is attempting to subdue the backlash he’s received over his column about Meghan Markle in The Sun by claiming his offensive statement was a “clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones.”

Last week, Clarkson, 62, published a scathing opinion of the Duchess of Sussex claiming he despises her on “a cellular level”.

In his piece, Clarkson said he dreams of the day Markle is paraded, naked, through Britain while the crowd chants “shame” and throws “excrement” at her.

“Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way” Clarkson added.

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This was, apparently, a reference to the TV show Game of Thrones, where the character Cersei Lannister is forced to participate in a "walk of atonement” after confessing to adultery.

In the "walk of atonement" scene, Cersei walks naked through the town as people throw garbage and yell at her.

Hundreds of people, including Clarkson's own daughter, criticised the former Top Gear host for using a grotesque image to describe Markle.

“In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people,” Clarkson wrote on Twitter.

@JeremyClarkson

“I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future,” he added.

But Clarkson’s excuse for his harsh criticism was not met with sympathy.

@thejenngannon

@JaydenUddoman

@andybonar

Although the Game of Thrones reference was the most standout portion of Clarkson's article, many felt that his clarifying tweet did not make up for the rest of his article.

Some people called upon The Sun's editor to issue a public statement on allowing the piece to run.

@scobie

@BiancaJagger

The independent press standards organisation (IPSO) received more than 6000 complaints about Clarkson's article.

A representative for IPSO told BBC they were assessing the complaints.

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