Jeremy Clarkson has issued an apology to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry over his controversial column.
The former Top Gear host revealed that he emailed the couple to apologise for his controversial column – where he said he "hated" the former Suits actress "on a cellular level" and wanted to see her "paraded naked through the streets".
Taking to Instagram, Jeremey shared a lengthy post where he said he "really is sorry" for what he said in the piece - all the way "from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head".
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have quickly responded with a statement of their own, denying that he reached out to Meghan - claiming he only contacted Harry, as The Mirror reports.
It reads: "On December 25, 2022, Mr. Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex.
"The contents of his correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.
"While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr. Clarkson, what remained to be addressed is his long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny."
It adds: "Unless each of his other pieces were also written "in a hurry", as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate."
It comes as Amazon is reported to have parted ways with the host beyond seasons of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm that have already been commissioned.
Meanwhile, an ITV boss slammed the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter, as Kevin Lygo said at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch: "It was awful what he said and I think even he has now acknowledged that. He should apologise. I don’t know what he was thinking when he wrote that."
The backlash was sparked in December after Jeremy wrote a seething column in The Sun, which is now deleted, he "dreams of people throwing lumps of excrement at her" in the insensitive spew of hatred towards Meghan – who he has never met.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation received more than 20,000 complaints about the piece, becoming the most complained about article ever.
In response, IPSO shared a statement which read: "We will follow our usual processes to examine the complaints we have received. This will take longer than usual because of the volume of complaints."
Following the huge backlash, Jeremy shared a statement on Twitter in which he said he had "rather put his foot in it".
He tweeted: "Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it.
"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. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future."
After issuing an apology, The Sun then removed the article from its website on the December 23.
A day later on December 24, Prince Harry and Meghan released their own statement. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess told PA news agency: "The fact that the Sun has not contacted The Duchess of Sussex to apologise shows their intent.
"This is nothing more than a PR stunt. While the public absolutely deserves the publication’s regrets for their dangerous comments, we wouldn’t be in this situation if The Sun did not continue to profit off of and exploit hate, violence and misogyny.
"A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all.
"Unfortunately, we’re not holding our breath."
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