The Sun newspaper says it regrets publishing Jeremy Clarkson’s column about the Duchess of Sussex and offers “sincere apologies”.
More than 20,000 complaints were made to the press regulator after the broadcaster wrote last week that he hated Meghan “on a cellular level”.
He later asked for the column to be removed from the Sun’s website.
The Sun said columnists had their own opinions, but as a publisher “with free expression comes responsibility”.
The piece became the Independent Press Standards Organization (Ipso) most complained about article.
Ipso said it had received more than 17,500 complaints by 09:00 GMT on Tuesday – rising to 20,800 by 17:00.
In place of the article, the Sun’s website now has a copy of a tweet from Clarkson in which she said she was “terrified of causing so much pain” and would “be more careful in the future”.
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.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) December 19, 2022
Clarkson’s column, published on December 16, was widely criticized on social media.
His daughter Emily distanced herself from her father’s words.
She said last week: “I want to make it clear that I stand against everything my father has written about Meghan Markle.”
ITV’s media and entertainment boss, Kevin Lego, described Clarkson’s comments as “appalling” but said game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? There are no plans to replace him as the host of
The column follows the release of Prince Harry and Meghan’s six-part Netflix series, in which the couple talk about their lives in the royal family.
In an apology published on its website, Sun said: “We will continue to campaign for good causes on behalf of our readers in 2023.”
The Sun said she has a proud history of campaigning, including work on domestic abuse legislation, providing refugee beds and closing harmful loopholes in the law.
The newspaper added that the article has been removed from the website and archives.
In the original column, Clarkson said: “At night, I can’t sleep as I lie there, gritting my teeth and dreaming of the day he [Meghan] walks the streets of every town in Britain naked. is prepared to parade in. The crowd shouts, ‘Shame on you!’ And throw lumps of waste on it.
“Everyone who is my age thinks the same way,” he added. “But what frustrates me is that young people, especially girls, think she’s so cool. They think she was a prisoner at Buckingham Palace, something other than embroidery and kittens. was forced to.”
In her tweet following the criticism, Clarkson said she had made a “clumsy” reference to a Game of Thrones scene that “went down badly with a lot of people”.
Elsewhere in the column, Clarkson also compared her hatred of the Duchess of Sussex to her feelings for Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and serial killer Rose West.
In response, Ms Sturgeon said Clarkson’s comments about Meghan were “deeply abusive and absolutely appalling”.
She said she felt “pity” for men like Clarkson, adding: “I can’t imagine what it must be like to be so consumed and corrupted by the hatred of other people, and in this case women in particular. Think you’re going to die. This toxic, vile slur.”
Complaints from political figures were also received on this column.
Conservative MP Caroline Nokes wrote to Sun editor Victoria Newton on Tuesday asking for “definite action to ensure no such article is published again”.
The letter was signed by more than 60 members of Parliament.
