Shelagh Fogarty clashes with feisty caller who believes Jeremy Clarkson's column 'wasn't violent'
19 December 2022, 16:57
A Shelagh Fogarty caller said he could not see any mention of “race” or “lynching” in Jeremy Clarkson's piece - two things the radio presenter had mentioned in her opening monologue.
A caller during Shelagh Fogarty’s show said he did not believe the language Jeremy Clarkson used in his column about Meghan Markle was “violent”.
"I think you've lost the plot!" the caller began to ensure Shelagh knew he did not agree with her point of view.
Mr Clarkson, writing in The Sun, said in reference to Meghan Markle: “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, “Shame!” and throw lumps of excrement at her.
The caller shouted down the phone at Shelagh telling her she had given too much "airtime" to the Sussexes.
Shelagh brought the caller back to the column written by the ex 'Top Gear' star, asking: “Was that violent language acceptable?”
“It wasn’t violent”, came the reply of Matthew in Canterbury.
“Well then I'm done with you Matthew”, Shelagh replied.
“If you don't think a man describing a naked woman being dragged through the streets in every town of Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her… if you don’t think that is violent language then God help the women of Canterbury.”
Earlier in the call, he asked Shelagh why she alluded to racial undertones in the piece and how it was reminiscent of lynching.
“You were opening up with racism and lynching… where did lynching come from Shelagh? Where is lynching?” Matthew asked.
Shelagh explained: “The lynching is in the historic, photographs, cartoons, actions in slavery [that are] historical.”
“Sometimes people say things or write things that are echoes of what's gone on before - you see it in anti-Semetism all the time”, she added.
The Canterbury caller criticised The Duke and Duchess, saying if “they want privacy - shut their mouths and stay in America!”.
Jeremy Clarkson has since tweeted that he is “horrified to have caused so much hurt”.
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