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A Change.org petition calling on the BBC to bring back suspended Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has reached 1million signatures, making it the fastest growing campaigns the site has ever hosted.
The TV star was originally disciplined by the broadcaster after he allegedly punched show producer Oisin Tymon and called him a “lazy, Irish c**t”. It is thought the "fracas" started when Tymon reportedly failed to give Clarkson a hot meal at the end of a day of shooting.
A BBC investigation is currently underway into the incident, which allegedly left Tymon with a bloodied lip and needing hospital treatment, The Mirror reports.
It is thought that Clarkson will strenuously deny using xenophobic language when he faces a disciplinary inquiry.
But the 54-year-old personality has received a wealth of public support in the wake of the "fracas", not least from the Change.org campaign started by political blogger Guido Fawkes last week.
Jeremy Clarkson's Top 25 Most Obnoxious Lines
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The petition calls for “Freedom to fracas” and demands that the broadcaster give Clarkson back the role he has held, alongside co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May, since 2002.
Brie Rogers Lowery, UK director of Change.org, told The Independent: "The pace at which this petition grew was interesting to watch, but it’s quite different to most of the petitions we see on the site. Most petitions on Change.org that go on to win do so with 100 signatures or less - so while the number of signatories does make a great story, it is not the only way to measure a petition's impact.
"Often, the petitions that take off are particularly personal to the people who started them - from issues as broad as ending FGM, to saving a woman from execution in Sudan, to asking for a Living Wage to be paid by football clubs."
“I am very grateful to everybody,” Clarkson told BBC News on Sunday in response to the backing he’s received from his fans.
Top Gear has been axed from the BBC’s TV schedules over the last week. However, a decision on whether four live shows will still air from Norway on 27 and 28 of March is yet to be reached.
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