Oh, no. No, no, no. This is not going to end well for anybody.

The Telegraph is reporting that Lord Hall, the Director General of the BBC, is expected to fire Jeremy Clarkson after reviewing the results of the internal investigation into the alleged assault upon producer Oisin Tymon on March 10th, 2015. Quoting the article:

Clarkson, 54, will be thanked for his work on the hugely popular motoring show, but will be told such behaviour cannot be tolerated at the Corporation.

It is understood a report into the so-called ‘fracas’ at a North Yorkshire hotel,concluded that presenter spent 20 minutes verbally abusing producer Oisin Tymon, before launching a 30 second physical assault on him.

Here’s where things are going to get exceptionally nasty. First and foremost, Top Gear itself is going to take a huge hit as a show. Both Richard Hammond and James May’s contracts are running up soon for renewal, and both have said that they will not continue on without Clarkson. Whether that holds up in the wake of Jezza’s firing will have to be seen, but even if they do welch out and stay, there’s the issue of who will replace Clarkson. It’s speculated that Chris Evans, a BBC Radio 2 host and highly regarded car collector, is being courted by the BBC to take over, but Evans has previously said that he does not ant the job. Early indications from UK site Car Throttle indicate that there’s a preference for Chris Harris, the host of YouTube channel Chris Harris on Cars and occasional Jalopnik contributor, but considering that he just got to work on his YouTube channel, there’s sincere doubt that he would be willing to jump ship to host Top Gear.

Chris Harris

Second, there will be backlash. Regardless of Lord Hall’s decision, there was going to be. On one side you have anti-Clarkson, those who see Jeremy as the anthesis to what is right and proper in society, someone who should have been silenced years ago. Then you have the supporters, the millions of signatures that were hand-delivered via tank to the BBC, plus the countless others around the world who watch Top Gear. If I were in Chris Evans or Chris Harris’s shoes, I wouldn’t go near that nuclear war zone for all of the BBC’s budget.

Finally, if Top Gear goes down, what about the other elements: there’s the local shows (which does include Top Gear USA), Top Gear magazine, which might not hold water if the show dies, and all of the countless people who work behind the scenes supporting all of those ventures. While there is plenty of venom directed at Top Gear USA, nobody wants to see anyone out on their ass in the cold because of this. There is a lot to worry about when a $75 million dollar money machine implodes, and considering how big this nuclear meltdown is shaping up to be, it’s going to get really bad.

UPDATE: This is the official BBC Statement made by Lord Hall:

It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon.

I am grateful to Ken MacQuarrie for the thorough way he has conducted an investigation of the incident on 4th March. Given the obvious and very genuine public interest in this I am publishing the findings of his report. I take no pleasure in doing so. I am only making them public so people can better understand the background. I know how popular the programme is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion. The main facts are not disputed by those involved.

I want to make three points.

First – The BBC is a broad church. Our strength in many ways lies in that diversity. We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price. Common to all at the BBC have to be standards of decency and respect. I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff – who is a completely innocent party – took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.

Second – This has obviously been difficult for everyone involved but in particular for Oisin. I want to make clear that no blame attaches to him for this incident. He has behaved with huge integrity throughout. As a senior producer at the BBC he will continue to have an important role within the organisation in the future.

Third – Obviously none of us wanted to find ourselves in this position. This decision should in no way detract from the extraordinary contribution that Jeremy Clarkson has made to the BBC. I have always personally been a great fan of his work and Top Gear. Jeremy is a huge talent. He may be leaving the BBC but I am sure he will continue to entertain, challenge and amuse audiences for many years to come.

The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I have asked Kim Shillinglaw to look at how best we might take this forward over the coming months. I have also asked her to look at how we put out the last programmes in the current series.

The results of investigator Ken MacQuarrie can be seen HERE.