10,000 people sign petition demanding Jeremy Clarkson isn’t cancelled

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition demanding ITV to not cancel Jeremy Clarkson.

To refresh your memory, the divisive presenter has been at the centre of a scandal in recent weeks following a scathing The Sun column he wrote against Meghan Markle.

Joining the likes of Piers Morgan in the public attack on the Duchess of Sussex, he said he hated her on a 'cellular level'.

But his most controversial statement of all arrived when he described how he 'dreams of the day' she is 'made to parade naked through the streets' of Britain as people 'throw lumps of excrement at her'.

I've said it once and I'll say it again - yikes.

It didn't take long for the backlash to build, so much so that Clarkson's own daughter criticised his hate-fuelled tirade.

Although Clarkson's not exactly known for being humble, he took to social media last week to plead for forgiveness and claim that he'd personally emailed Markle and Prince Harry to apologise.

Netflix

Despite the grovelling post, Amazon Prime has since confirmed that once the presenter's contracts and the already commissioned seasons of his shows are out, his time with the streaming service will come to an end.

Now, that doesn't mean there won't be plenty more Clarkson content in the following months.

In fact, Amazon Prime told LADbible that the second season of Clarkson's Farm will air on 10 February and will be followed by a third season.

There's also more of The Grand Tour to come, though both shows won't be getting the green light for any fresh content in the future - at least not with Amazon Prime, anyway.

Ironically, Clarkson die-hards have been fighting his cancellation with... cancellation.

Yes, after the news broke that the shows are getting axed, fans have been dropping their Prime subscriptions.

Mark Thomas/Alamy Stock Photo

And now members of the Clarkson fandom (the Clandom?) have taken to a Change.org petition over fears ITV will follow suit by dropping the 62-year-old as host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Addressing the network's CEO Dame Carolyn McCall, it states: "While Mr Clarkson’s remarks were considered offensive by some and provoked a record number of complaints to the press regulator, the negative reaction has been completely disproportionate.

"For instance, the BBC presenter Chris Packham said he thought he should be sent to jail and the Sun closed down, while 60+ MPs wrote to you urging you to permanently ban Mr Clarkson from ever appearing on ITV again."

The campaign went on to highlight times other celebrities have used 'similarly intemperate language', including when Jo Brand joked about throwing battery acid at Nigel Farage on the Radio 4 programme Heresy.

"We accept these statements were not intended to be taken literally and the people in question were just using hyperbole for comedic effect," it continued. "But isn’t that equally true of Jeremy Clarkson’s column in the Sun?"

Instagram/@jeremyclarkson1

If Clarkson were to be removed from the ITV show, the creators of the petition said it would be 'an example of cancel culture at its worst'.

So far the appeal has received 10,860 signatures, meaning it's not far off from its 15,000 goal.

Whether this will be enough to save Clarkson from being cancelled by ITV like he has been with Amazon Prime is yet to be seen, but at the very least it shows the controversial presenter still has a loyal following.