BBC executive compares Jeremy Clarkson to Jimmy Savile as Top Gear row rumbles on
A BBC executive has compared Jeremy Clarkson’s ability to shake off controversy at the helm of Top Gear with depraved DJ Jimmy Savile’s evasion of the law courtesy of friends in high places, according to reports.
Clarkson can count on legions of fans up and down the country, amongst them no less than Prime Minister David Cameron, who has lent public support to the star amidst allegations he’d aimed a punch at producer Oisin Tymon.
But quoting an unnamed source said to be a 'senior BBC executive', Mail on Sunday reported: “The pressure this guy [Tymon] is under is so Savilesque in a way.
"‘If you look at what David Cameron says or what [former Culture and Media Secretary] Maria Miller says and you swap Clarkson for Savile, you get this: David Cameron is effectively saying that Savile’s a real talent, Maria Miller saying Savile will be Savile.
"People keep saying that this is a case of Danny Cohen v Jeremy Clarkson. It is not, this is Jeremy Clarkson v Jeremy Clarkson. Jeremy is self-destructing. Danny is not the person who is driving this, it is Jeremy."
Clarkson is currently suspended as Top Gear presenter pending the outcome of an internal BBC investigation into the matter.