Jeremy Clarkson was pictured back at work in Manchester today as the media regulator announced it was launching an investigation into complaints over comments contained in a newspaper column he wrote about Meghan Markle.
The former Top Gear host, 62, was photographed sporting greying stubble and appeared tired as he arrived for filming at Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Wearing a simple navy blue cardigan over a half-unbuttoned shirt and coat, he slung a bag over his shoulder and held a newspaper as he made his way to work.
It comes after questions were posed as to whether he would be axed from the programme following his controversial article about the Duchess of Sussex, which reportedly prompted Amazon to 'cut ties' with him, reports The Mirror.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) said it had launched an investigation into the column Clarkson wrote for The Sun newspaper about former Suits actress the Duchess of Sussex.
The media regulator confirmed it was taking forward two groups of complaints, from The Fawcett Society and The Wilde Foundation, which claim they were affected by breaches in accuracy, harassment and discrimination.
The article, in which Clarkson said he hated Meghan and dreamed of her being paraded through British towns and publicly shamed, became Ipso's most complained-about article after its publication, receiving more than 25,100 complaints.
The TV presenter later apologised for the piece, describing his language as 'disgraceful' and saying he was 'profoundly sorry'. The newspaper also apologised and said it regretted the publication of the column, which was removed online.
An ITV representative confirmed to The Mirror last month that Clarkson would continue to host the hit quiz show as their stance from last year had not changed.
ITV boss Kevin Lygo said in December that the channel had 'no control' over what the Millionaire host said in his newspaper column, but called for him to apologise. He went on to add that they would keep him as host on the quiz show.
When asked whether he would be remaining on Millionaire, he said: "Yes, at the moment we are. What he says in the papers we have no control of."
The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, branded the article about his wife 'horrific, hurtful and cruel' during his interview with ITV's Tom Bradby to discuss his autobiography, Spare, adding that what Clarkson had written would encourage people around the world to believe it was an acceptable way to treat women.
Ipso confirmed the conclusion of the investigation would be made public. The press watchdog confirmed that it has received over 25,100 complaints from members of the public regarding the article.
It said in a statement: "We are taking forward complaints from two groups, The Fawcett Society and The Wilde Foundation, who said they were affected by breaches of Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 3 (Harassment) and Clause 12 (Discrimination) in the article. You can find out more about representative group complaints here: Representative group complaints (ipso.co.uk).
"We will make public the outcome of this investigation through our website and on our social media channels when it is concluded."
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Man who once won the lottery escapes jail for stealing £15k of trainers
- Nicola Bulley search timeline day-by-day and all the key evidence
- The 10 Greater Manchester areas where house prices are still soaring
- Court hears further details in tragic case of young man killed by tree
- Eerie photos of Manchester's abandoned Belle Vue Stadium that's like a zombie apocalypse film
