WOKE bosses at ITV are facing a massive audience backlash after the network axed a Celebrity special of hit gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? after three female stats refused to work with Jeremy Clarkson following his controversial column about Duchess Meghan.
Politicalite readers hit back at the reports with thousands calling for ITV to backtrack on its decision.
Jane Horsely said: “Jeremy is a fantastic host of Millionaire ITV isn’t fit for purpose anymore. They should have just got 3 new celebrities but they are to WOKE for that!”
Patricia Chandler said: “Name them now. We need to know. Are they lefties?”
Andrew Scanlan said: “Cancel culture is another form of fascism.”
Dennis Taylor joked: “Who wants to be seen with Harry now especially with the taliban after him.”
Andy Fay said: “just don’t watch it then make a stand against the woke idiots.”
Jeremy, 62 was accused of spreading “hate rhetoric” by a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess after he sparked outrage in December when he wrote in The Sun that he was “dreaming of the day” the duchess would be forced to “parade naked through the streets” while crowds threw excrement at her.
Politicalite reported last month that ITV was considering the future of Clarkson after Amazon Prime axed The Grand Tour.
The row has caused a nightmare for brand Clarkson – one of Britain’s biggest telly stars with multi-million pound deals with ITV – where he fronts Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and also streaming giant Amazon Prime – who are mulling cutting ties with the presenter.
ITV boss Kevin Lygo told The Guardian that the network had “no control” over what Clarkson said in his Sun newspaper column but that “he should apologise” for his comments – now The Mirror reports that the network has asked a celebrity special of Millionaire after three stars refused to work with him over the column.
Sources revealed that production of the special has been halted after some female celebrities objected to Clarkson’s participation.
A source told The Mirror: “ITV were left with no choice but to postpone the show.
“The feelings were made very loud, and very clear. Namely that they didn’t want to share a platform with Clarkson and, in doing so, risk being seen to legitimise his misogynistic comments.
“They were appearing on the show to raise money for charity, and they were acutely aware that they didn’t want causes special to their heart to be caught up in any backlash. It was a no-brainer to be honest, they had to walk away.”
ITV has previously insisted that “scheduling issues” have led to the show being delayed.”
Jeremy previously said he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt” and vowed to “be more careful in future”, asking The Sun to remove the column – the most complained about ever – from their website.
He later issued a more lengthy apology and revealed he contacted Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan directly.
He wrote on Instagram: “Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the landmine exploded.
“I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then, on Christmas morning, I e-mailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too. I said I was baffled by what they had been saying on TV but that the language I’d used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry.
“Over the last 30 years, I have written very nearly 5,000 newspaper and magazine columns, so it was inevitable that, one day, I’d do a Harry Kane and sky one of the damn things. Which is what happened with the piece about Meghan.”
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