Jeremy Clarkson Suspended By BBC 'After Fracas'
The Top Gear presenter was allegedly involved in a fracas with a producer and his motoring show will not be broadcast this Sunday.
The Top Gear host was allegedly involved in a 'fracas' with producer
The BBC has suspended Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson "following a fracas" with a producer.
An investigation will now take place into the alleged incident and no-one else has been suspended, the corporation said.
It also said the latest episode of Top Gear would not be broadcast this Sunday.
"The BBC will be making no further comment at this time", it added.
Clarkson, who has been involved in a number of high-profile gaffes in recent years, was put on what was called his final warning by the corporation in 2014.
That followed a racism row amid claims he used the n-word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe during filming of the BBC2 programme.
Clarkson said he was "horrified" that it sounded as though he used racist language in the out-take, which was not broadcast.
In a video last May, he said he had made every effort to make sure he did not use the slur, but realised it might have sounded as though he had.
Also last year, the motoring show was censored by Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules after Clarkson used a "racial" term during the programme's Burma special, which had aired in March 2014.
Clarkson was accused of using "casual racism" in the episode, where he and his co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May built a bridge over a Burmese river.
As a man walked across the bridge, Clarkson said: "That's a proud moment but there's a slope on it."
Top Gear has been dogged by rows over racism and sparked a near-riot while filming in Argentina - as executive producer Andy Wilman described 2014 as "an annus horribilis" for the show.
The crew was forced to flee the country after trouble erupted when it emerged they were using a Porsche with the registration number H982 FKL, which some people suggested could refer to the Falklands conflict of 1982.
Clarkson previously faced a storm of protest from mental health charities after he branded people who throw themselves under trains as "selfish".
And he was forced to apologise for telling BBC1's The One Show that striking workers should be shot.
Earlier this year, BBC director-general Tony Hall defended Top Gear as offering "a different voice" to viewers.
A BBC spokeswoman said in a statement today: "Following a fracas with a BBC producer, Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation.
"No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday. The BBC will be making no further comment at this time."
This weekend's episode was set to feature Clarkson, Hammond and May getting to grips with classic cars such as a Fiat 124 Spider, an MGB GT and a Peugeot 304 Cabriolet.
They were set to take to the road and end up at a classic track day, while ex-England footballer Gary Lineker was the "star in a reasonably priced car".
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