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Most of the world doesn't know that Jeremy Clarkson is widely despised at home in Britain

Jeremy Clarkson has annoyed a large number of people.

Not popular.

The BBC on Tuesday suspended one of its most iconic stars, "Top Gear" presenter Jeremy Clarkson. According to a statement from the network, Clarkson is suspended pending an investigation regarding "a fracas" with a BBC producer. The Guardian reports he threw a punch at a producer. "Top Gear" will not be broadcast this Sunday.

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Clarkson is a hugely popular global star whose car-testing show generates tens of millions in revenue for the BBC. But in the UK, where Clarkson appears in the media in some capacity on most days of the week, familiarity has begun to breed contempt.

While car fans across the world will be disappointed, many Britons will smile at the idea of Clarkson's career possibly being cut short.

Over his decades-long career, in fact, Clarkson has managed to annoy loads of people, from ethnic minorities to politicians to entire counties.

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Many would remember him for punching journalist and media personality Piers Morgan at a press event in 2004. (Morgan enjoys a similar level of respect as Clarkson in the UK, thus many Brits regard this incident as a victimless crime.)

Back in 1998, Hyundai officially complained about the BBC presenter for his "bigoted and racist" comments at a motor show in Birmingham. On that occasion, he allegedly said the Hyundai employees at the show had eaten dogs, suggesting that one of the firm's designers had probably eaten a spaniel, according to the BBC. Hyundai pointed out that "when he drives a French car it is not as if he says that the French eat horses and frogs."

Clarkson might not offend the French, but when testing a BMW Mini he managed to enrage the Germans, performing a Nazi-style salute while driving on Top Gear.

Indians have also been mocked, in 2012 he took his trousers off in public to show a couple of Indian dignitaries how to use a trouser press. Indians are the largest ethnic minority in the UK.

Amid his long list of controversies, Clarkson has rarely apologised, and the BBC has often let the controversies die out on their own rather than disciplining its presenter.

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In 2009 he set his eyes on then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whom he called "a silly c---" in comments that were not intended for broadcast while recording for "Top Gear." Clarkson was not publicly disciplined after the incident, something decried by politicians on both sides. "Many people will find that word in particular very offensive; I am surprised he felt it appropriate to use it," said John Whittingale, an MP for the Conservatives and a political rival to Brown.

After calling Norfolk a "flat and featureless" county in which people were surprised to see a car, Norfolk promptly set up a "We hate Jeremy Clarkson" club.

People take Clarkson seriously because he is an enormous figure in the British media scene. average of 350 million people worldwide watch it every week

Clarkson also writes regularly for two of the country's most famous newspapers, the Sun and The Sunday Times, and he has a loyal group of fans: In 2008, a Facebook group suggested he should run for prime minister.

His most recent incident before Tuesday came in October, when he drove through Argentina sporting a license plate that appeared to refer to the Falklands War, between the UK and Argentina in 1982. On that occasion, he had to flee the country among protests. The BBC did not discipline him and called the license panel "a very unfortunate coincidence."

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The same year he was filmed using the n-word in footage that did not air on "Top Gear," and yet he kept his job.

The Brits understand that Clarkson is a media clown, an entertainer who cannot be taken seriously. But the act is getting stale. And this time, it looks as if even the BBC is bored of it.

This video — of the n-word incident — contains offensive language.

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