Fast cars, witty banter, and a never-ending barrage of controversy. If there are three things that came to define the Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond era of Top Gear, it’s those three things. But now that the trio have moved on from the BBC to Amazon and The Grand Tour, that three-pronged formula is still apparently in full effect. We’ve already seen the fast cars and the witty banter among the three hosts. All we were waiting for was the first slice of controversy to strike the record-breaking show, and as if on cue, it has arrived. The Grand Tour has officially come under fire, taking only four episodes to do it.
To no one’s surprise, Clarkson finds himself at the heart of the controversy for showing how to smuggle migrants into the United Kingdom. The whole schtick revolved around successfully hiding Hammond behind the rear bumper of an Audi TT, an audacious, yet surprisingly possible revelation that caught the crowd in Whitby, England in a state of genuine surprise and confusion.
Clarkson navigated around the segment by adding some colorful commentary. “When immigrants try to get into the country they always come in the back of a container lorry and that is the world’s worst game of hide and seek,” he said. “If you work for Border Force you open the doors and go, ’well there you are.’ Surely, there must be a better way of getting into Britain. And I think I’ve worked it out.”
Needless to say, Clarkson’s comments were picked up various media outlets and it didn’t take long for people to call out Jezza for the supposedly insensitive comments. Speaking to the Daily Star, Barbara Drozdowicz from the East European Resource Center to blast the entire segment, saying that the organization was “appalled by the portrayal of migrants as an illegal cargo.”It didn’t take long before others joined in on the chorus of criticism, including a spokeswoman for the U.K.’s Road Haulage Association, who said that “how-to” segment of smuggling immigrants into the country was “irresponsible.”
For their part, neither Amazon nor the producers of The Grand Tour have yet to comment on controversy. If anything, it wouldn’t be surprising if they brush off the incident, knowing full well that controversies like this one, whether they’re legitimate or not, is part of the reason why the old era of Top Gear was so successful.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
from Top Speed http://ift.tt/2i416Z6
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