BBC in crisis PR mode as Top Gear Mexican row builds.
The BBC is in PR crisis mode attempting to defuse an international incident sparked by comments on Top Gear which caused outrage in Mexico, a letter of complaint from the Mexican Ambassador and the threat of legal action on racial grounds.
They issued an apology today, and moved to block the offending segments of the show being broadcast by YouTube, although the programme is still available in the UK on iPlayer.
The row started when Richard Hammond suggested, “Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in he middle as a coat.
Jeremy Clarkson chimed in that they show would not get any complaints from the Mexican ambassador because he would be in front of the telly sound asleep.
However, if he was, somebody obviously woke him up. Because he wrote a stiff letter of complaint: “It is utterly incomprehensible and unacceptable that the premiere broadcaster should allow these three presenters to display their bigotry.”
Meanwhile, Iris de la Torre, a Mexican living in London, instructed lawyers to bring a test case against the show under a new equality law. Her lawyers are Equal Justice who previously brought an action against Channel 4 for remarks made about Indian Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother.
In theory the BBC could be liable for damages of up to £1m.
The BBC apology which was sent to the Mexican ambassador said the comments may have been “rude” and “mischievous” but there was no “vindictiveness” behind them.
Meanwhile, those hoping to see segments of the offending piece outside the UK on YouTube are met with a screen which says: “This video contains content from BBC Worldwide, who has blocked it on copyright grounds. Sorry about that.”
However, if you search hard enough it is still there. The Drum found this example, complete with Spanish subtitles, to make sure it is clearly understood in Mexico.