Top Gear alum Jeremy Clarkson is declaring victory in his long-running feud against Elon Musk as an angry backlash targets the billionaire’s car company, Tesla.
“The sudden pan-global decision to uncrowdfund Tesla and to break the door mirrors off as many of its cars as possible is not funny,” the TV host wrote in a column for London’s Sunday Times. “But also, it’s kinda hilarious. Especially if you’re me.”
Clarkson’s beef with the world’s richest man dates back to 2008 when Clarkson gave what he calls a “firm but fair” review of Tesla’s Roadster.
“Musk was very angry about this and sued us for defamation, claiming I had a problem with electrical cars and had written the piece before even setting foot in the car,” Clarkson wrote.
Musk sued the BBC over the review, alleging it damaged Tesla’s reputation. The High Court of Justice in London rejected the automaker’s claim in 2011 and a British appeal court later threw out Musk’s complaint in 2013.
“He lost the case, and the appeal, and he’s never really got over it,” Clarkson wrote. “He still claims I was biased and that we pretended his car had broken down when it hadn’t. Even though it had. I should really have sued him back, but I feared he’d call me a pedo, so instead I just waited on the river bank for his body to float past. And now it has.”
The “pedo” comment refers to Musk labeling British cave expert Vernon Unsworth a “pedo guy” online after Unsworth helped rescue 12 boys trapped in a Thai cave in 2018. Unsworth unsuccessfully sued Musk for defamation—Musk’s lawyers argued that Unsworth wasn’t appreciably harmed by the billionaire’s post which was later deleted.
In his piece, Clarkson touched on the physical attacks targeting Tesla vehicles and the automaker’s dealerships, writing that “things are now so bad” that a friend of his “has now fitted a sticker to his Tesla saying he bought it before he knew Musk was an idiot.”
“Of course, I’d love to remind all you Tesla drivers that I warned you 17 years ago that no good would come of your buying choice,” Clarkson added. “But you didn’t listen. You chose to believe Mr Musk.”
