LONDON – The BBC has postponed an episode of panel game QI featuring Jeremy Clarkson, in a bid to diffuse the row over the presenter’s recent spate of controversial comments.
The quiz show, fronted by Stephen Fry, had been scheduled to air Friday night, but will now be replaced by a different episode in light of the presenter’s recent comments,
Clarkson, one of the U.K.’s top presenters, had attacked striking public service workers and train suicides in a series of ill-judged interviews that provoked over 30,000 viewer complaints.
Now the BBC has decided not to stoke the controversy further by having him on air again – even on a pre-recorded show – just a week after he said that striking workers should be taken out and “executed in front of their families.”
The pubcaster issued an on-air apology immediately after the appearance on the BBC1 One Show a week ago.
Despite the outcry, sales of Clarkson’s Christmas DVD Powered Up have received a hefty boost from the controversy.
