Jeremy Clarkson has recalled being accused of racism over the name of his dog.
The 65-year-old faced an online backlash in 2014 - a year before he left Top Gear - for calling his new black dog Didier Dogba after the Chelsea footballer Didier Drogba.
Clarkson hit back at the allegations at the time, asking on X: “Why is it racist to name our amazingly brilliant dog after a footballer?
He was investigated by the BBC as part of an internal review into the culture at Top Gear, with the then director of television, Danny Cohen, later confirming that he was not racist.
Clarkson recalled the incident in his latest Sunday Times column, blasting the broadcaster for “reprimanding” him for what he perceived to be a minor incident despite disgraced figures like Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Huw Edwards working there.
He said he was seen as “the ultimate bad boy” at the BBC, when really he was “nothing more than a naughty scallywag”.
Clarkson went on: “Savile and Harris and Edwards were going about their business while I was being reprimanded for calling my new dog Didier Dogba. And it just keeps getting worse.”
Discussing his exit from Top Gear in 2015 following an altercation with a producer, he added: “Number one, since they ‘let me go’, my life has improved immeasurably and number two, when I look at what’s happened to them since, I can’t help feeling just a tiny bit smug.”
Clarkson wrote about the misconduct of other BBC figures, including Harris, who was found guilty on 12 counts of indecent assault in 2014.
He also mentioned the Saville sexual abuse scandal in 2012, and Edwards, who was sentenced for possessing indecent images of children in 2024.
After Top Gear, Clarkson and his co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May went on to host The Grand Tour on Prime Video.
This is the latest addition to the pack. He's called Didier Dogba. pic.twitter.com/IzmtpCuy9s
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) April 21, 2014
The trio ended their working relationship with the emotional finale of the series in 2024.
Top Gear, meanwhile, ended after a harrowing crash on set with Freddie Flintoff, who had hosted alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris.
Clarkson recently revealed he will be taking his first break from TV “in forty years”.
The broadcaster - who is the star of Clarkson’s Farm and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - has said he’s “genuinely frightened” about taking a three month break from filming at the beginning of 2026.
Clarkson will be soon be on screens as the host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? spin-off Millionaire Hot Seat.
But when that hits screens in early 2026, he won’t be filming for any of his other shows.
“I’m genuinely frightened because until March, I won’t be filming a TV show for the first time in 40 years,” he said at the launch of the new show, according to MailOnline.
“That will be three months of s**t.”
He added that he still “gets nervous” while filming for new series, saying he puts his “heart and soul” into presenting every show.
