BBC ‘was so dumb to get rid of Clarkson’
THE BBC’s decision to drop Jeremy Clarkson was ‘the dumbest thing’ a broadcaster has ever done, according to an Amazon boss.
Conrad Riggs, head of Amazon’s unscripted shows, including Clarkson’s The Grand Tour, said: ‘I thought it was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen a network do. It was a great opportunity for us. He’s a global star.’
The American executive accused the BBC of failing to understand what an exceptional talent Clarkson is. ‘I think it was a function of the lack of understanding of the impact that he could have going forward,’ Mr Riggs told the Daily Mail. ‘[Top Gear] is about Jeremy. It’s like you can’t produce The Oprah Winfrey Show without Oprah.
‘The show is really not about the format. It’s about him and James May and Richard Hammond. They could probably do a show about cooking, and it would be successful as well.’
Clarkson was ousted from the BBC in 2015, after he punched a Top Gear producer in a row over a steak. But he and his co-presenters, Hammond and May, bounced back, signing a three-year deal to make the Grand Tour, reportedly worth £164million.