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Pub bans Jeremy Clarkson’s beer after Meghan Markle comments

23 December 2022 By Louis Thomas

Jeremy Clarkson’s controversial comments about Meghan Markle have prompted one publican to remove the motoring journalist’s Hawkstone lager from the taps.

In light of the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, Clarkson wrote about Markle in The Sun: “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, “Shame!” and throw lumps of excrement at her.”

The remark, which Clarkson said was a reference to a scene in Game of Thrones, was widely condemned and has prompted a slew of articles suggesting that he should be sacked by ITV and Amazon. It also broke the record for the number of complaints about an article to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), receiving more than 20,800 by 9am by Tuesday 20 December.

Tom Doggett, landlord of The Red Lion in Evesham, Worcestershire, has hit the broadcaster where it hurts – his Hawkstone beer brand (made from barley grown on his Diddly Squat farm). Doggett explained why he felt prompted to replace Hawkstone Lager with Brew 61’s Leaping Lambs to Worcester News: “I was always slightly uncomfortable with Jeremy Clarkson’s connection to the pub, but it was a local lager and I wanted to support a local business…I took over the pub in August and I wanted to make it a safe and friendly place for people.

“We have a lot of women who come here on their own and they say they feel safe in the pub…And if someone in the pub made comments like Jeremy Clarkson, at the very least I would ask them to be quiet or kick them out,” he continued.

Hawkstone is currently on tap in a number of pubs across the UK, including many in London, but there is no word of other landlords following Doggett’s example.

Clarkson continues to generate headlines with his remarks, including his recent comment that Phillip Schofield’s wine was “undrinkable”, and his summer suggestion that the best remedy during a heatwave was beer.