Jeremy Clarkson Defended By BBC Chief After Argentine Ambassador Calls Him 'Embarrassment To British People'

BBC Defends Clarkson, Concerned By 'Violence Towards Him'
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Jeremy Clarkson is at the centre of a war of words between a BBC Chief and the Argentine ambassador.

After ambassador Alicia Castro called Clarkson "an embarrassment to the British people" following his disastrous number plate gaffe when the Top Gear team visited her country recently, the BBC's Director of Television Danny Cohen has written to her, complaining about his star presenter's treatment.

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Jeremy Clarkson has been defended robustly by BBC's Director of Television Danny Cohen

Cohen described the BBC's concerns at the "violence" Clarkson and others faced, after he drove a car with the licence plate H982 FLK, perceived by locals as a mockery of the Falkland Islands conflict in 1982.

In his letter, Cohen repeated the Top Gear team's insistence that this was no deliberate prank, and that the BBC would be broadcasting the programme in the near future.

Clarkson Slammed In Argentina
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(01 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(02 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(03 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(04 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(05 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(06 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(07 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(08 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(09 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(10 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(11 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson Slammed In Argentina(12 of12)
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Jeremy Clarkson has stirred controversy in Argentina by driving through the country in a Porsche with a number plate interpreted to reference the 1982 Falklands war. Pictures via Autoblog.com.ar (credit: www.autoblog.com.ar)

Despite his previous controversies, Jeremy Clarkson is not thought to be in trouble with the BBC over this latest debacle. After he and the Top Gear crew had to leave Argentina early following the storm, he described how and he and the other presenters had had to hide under the beds in their rooms when their hotel was surrounded by an angry mob.

"There is no question in my mind that we had walked into a trap," he said. "Make no mistake lives were at risk."

More recently, Clarkson has come under fire from nearer quarters, following a tweet from Australia, where he revelled in being able to drive on the open road, beer in hand. A furious mother of a drink-drive accident victim joined anti-drink-driving charities in branding him "a complete and utter idiot".

7 Other Times Jeremy Clarkson Definitely Wasn't Being Racist Or Homophobic
The adorable name for his black dog, Didier Dogba, after Ivory Coast-born football Didier Drogba(01 of02)
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(credit:Jeremy Clarkson/Twitter)
This jovial prank (02 of02)
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