Jeremy Clarkson has responded to backlash after telling a dyslexic man to ‘learn to spell.’
The Clarkson’s Farm star, 62, faced outrage this week when the newest episode of the Amazon Prime programme aired.
In the video, the former Top Gear host storms out of a discussion about extending his Diddly Squat farm, ordering attorney Charles Streeten to ‘learn to spell’ as he passes by.
Streeten then wrote an open letter on growing up dyslexic and feeling like he’d ‘failed’ when he struggled in school while going on to have a great career.
Viewers chastised Clarkson and pushed him to apologise for the remark.
He has since issued a statement in which he states he would not have included the scene in the series if he had known about Streeten’s dyslexia, but he does not apologise.
In a statement to The Times, where the open letter was published, he said: ‘It’s great that Mr Streeten has overcome his dyslexia to such an extent that he’s able to send such a well-spelt letter from Jamaica.
‘It’s just a shame he chose not to mention his learning difficulty when we met at the planning meeting more than a year ago.
‘Because if he had, the exchange would not have been televised.’
Clarkson is said to have gone through a council officer’s report produced by Streeten during the meeting about seeking to expand his Diddly Squat farm and made ‘disparaging remarks’ about the written replies.
In Streeten’s letter, he wrote: ‘Learn to spell. Well, I’ve certainly tried.
‘When you muttered those words to me you couldn’t have known how many times I’ve heard them. But to a dyslexic, it’s a familiar phrase.’
He explained that no matter how hard he worked or’stowed the list of words beneath my pillow,’ when the time came to be tested, he just couldn’t arrange the letters in order with certainty.