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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 19, 2022

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I'm not sure that Markle gets more spite than anyone else. "I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level" casually implies that being a Scottish Nationalist is about as bad as being a child murdering paedophile, although I suppose it does suggest Markle is worse. It's later suggested that Argentina winning the world cup would be grounds for declaring war. The level of spite here seems appropriately calibrated and well on-brand for Clarkson. Complaints here fall in the same category as complaining about South Park being too offensive - it's a feature, not a bug - and Clarkson's audience will take such complaints as being a sign that he's doing something right.

It also seems you've missed that the apology is as unserious as the original article. Responding to "the way you're bullying this woman is offensive" with "I understand how making a reference to a TV show whose final season wasn't as good as we all hoped could be offensive" communicates that his critics' points are less important than Reddit comments about a fictional problem.