James May Comments On Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear End: “It Wasn’t Fair On Oisin”
After a dramatic end to his career at the BBC, James May has revealed his thoughts on Jeremy Clarkson’s exit from Top Gear in 2015.
As goes the legend, Clarkson’s contract at the BBC wasn’t renewed after he punched the Top Gear producer at the time Oisin Tymon. This “fracas” became a headline across the country, and resulted in the car show coming to an end before the presenters moved to Prime Video with their new show, The Grand Tour.
You’d expect there to be some form of falling out between Clarkson, May, and Richard Hammond because of this. Well, you’d be right. James was annoyed, and it was quite a few months before the two presenters got together to talk it out.
“Looking back on it, what annoyed me was that the whole thing became so blown up. And actually, it wasn’t that a big a deal,” James admitted.
“It wasn’t fair on Oisin, the other guy.
“He became a bit of a hate figure on the internet, which I thought was very poor.”
He goes on to explain how the story was blown out of proportion by the media:
At the time, Jeremy eventually apologies to Tymon, who had been experiencing backlash from fans of Clarkson who were angry that the presenter’s contract had come to an end:
“I would like to say sorry, once again, to Oisin Tymon for the incident and its regrettable aftermath.
“I want to reiterate that none of this was in any way his fault.
“I would also like to make it clear that the abuse he has suffered since the incident is unwarranted and I am sorry too that he has had to go through that.
“I am pleased that this matter is now resolved. Oisin was always a creatively exciting part of Top Gear and I wish him every success with his future projects.”
The BBC also released a statement after the case had been resolved:
