What did Jeremy Clarkson say about Global Warming? Former ‘Top Gear’ host clarifies past climate change dismissal comments 

In an interview with the Guardian published on Saturday 27, 2024, former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson revealed his previous controversial remarks dismissing climate change was merely an element of his brash TV persona.

In 2022, Jeremy Clarkson, who runs a 1000-acre site in Cotswold – a project documented in the Amazon Prime series, Clarkson’s Farm, sparked outrage after he announced global warming was “over '' following the UK heatwave, where temperatures hit 40ºC for the first time in recorded history.

In a post on X on July 2022, Clarkson posted a tweet comparing the extreme UK weather to France, noting the neighboring country had not issued a warning, unlike Britain.

“It’s very hot in the south of France but so far as I know, there’s no DefCon 8 level 3 killer death heatwave warning in place."

Despite the post triggering a wave of backlash online, days later Clarkson followed it up with another post, where he shared that one of his farm animals had died after the recent heatwave in the UK. At the time, he wrote that "global warming is over now but tragically, its brief visit took the life of my big pig."

---

Jeremy Clarkson says climate change dismissal comments were a joke

Nearly two years after seemingly dismissing global warming, Jeremy Clarkson walked back on his controversial comments, attributing it to an act for television. When questioned about the 2022 climate change statement, Clarkson told the Guardian “it was a joke” and “part of the caricature” which he played up for entertainment.

Clarkson, whose hit series Clarkson’s Farm returns for Season 3 on Amazon Prime’s global platform on May 3, added that he had deliberately exaggerated his comments to be provocative, noting his public persona is a “Comic creation.”

“Everyone assumes the character they see on motoring shows is me, but it’s exaggerated. To think that I was like I was on Top Gear is the same as thinking that Anthony Hopkins is a cannibal.”

The 64-year-old TV presenter revealed he doesn't see the need to be controversial anymore.

“I don’t have to think, ‘Right, I’m going to say something stupidly provocative now.’ That’s relaxing. Also, you don’t wake up every morning to find you’re in the middle of a tabloid maelstrom for something you’ve said or done.”

During the Guardian interview, Jeremy Clarkson also touched on his 2022 controversial opinion piece in The Sun about the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. In the article, Clarkson said his hatred of Meghan Markle operated on a “cellular level”, and he disliked her more than the serial killer Rose West.

When questioned about the article, Clarkson told the Guardian it was written in his controversial era, adding –

“So, actually, I’ve already addressed that. I won’t say anything. Put me in a half-nelson and I won’t say anything. Honestly, I’m not talking about that. There’s enough to be talking about with farming. You can say you tried.”

Clarkson also recalled the backlash he faced after writing a column for The Sunday Times Climate about activist Greta Thunberg. In 2021, Clarkson wrote he didn’t understand the phenomenon that enveloped Thunberg.

When asked if he still disliked the young climate activist, Jeremy Clarkson said he refuses to be lectured by “someone” who has never attended school.