(MENAFN- Al-Anbaa) Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson was suspended for allegedly hitting a producer, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
The BBC said Clarkson, one of the corporation's highest earners, had "a fracas with a BBC producer" in a statement released yesterday.
"Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," they said. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday." The BBC reported that the next two episodes, and possibly the third and final show of the series, will not be aired.
Fans of the presenter expressed dismay at the decision. At the time of writing, more than 300,000 people have signed a petition seeking his reinstatement.
Using the hashtag #BringBackClarkson, which is trending worldwide, some Twitter users lamented that the show would not be the same without him.
But a "Sack Jeremy Clarkson" petition is also doing the rounds, gathering 2,814 signatures so far. Some will be glad to see the back of him.
This is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy.
In May last year, the television presenter asked forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show.
Clarkson had mumbled the n-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired.
Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines whenArgentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used - interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War.
Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said on the BBC Newsbeat website that the use of the plate was purely coincidental.
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