The Grand Tour

Richard Hammond Responds To Homophobic And Sexist Complaints

Richard Hammond has been countlessly labeled homophobic during the last seasons of The Grand Tour after jokes about a Jeep being a ‘gay car’, and ice-cream being only for gay men. But in a recent interview, Hammond is sure that he has nothing to apologise for.

Talking to Express.co.uk, he said the following:

“The criticism is just b***dy annoying.

“We are not remotely homophobic! If someone takes something as homophobic… I don’t want to cause offence.”

This Is Why We Love Richard And Mindy Hammond - The Real Power Couple

Hammond is adamant that the trio are not going to be more careful in the future, though, despite many viewers having noted that they’ve been offended in some way or another.

He added: “To say, ‘oh we need to be really careful not to be homophobic’ would say that we are, so we’re not going to try and set out to avoid that sort of thing because we’re not.

“But to be honest, people are always looking for it.”

Of course, people will always catch The Grand Tour presenters out, often taking things out of context or bending things to look worse so as to get more likes on Twitter.

He adds: “The favourite one we always used to get was sexism – ‘Oh we all know what you lot think about women and cars?’ What have we ever said? We’ve never said anything – apart from anything else I’ve got a wife and two daughters who would kick the s**t out of me.

“But we never said any of those things, probably because people just lead on the assumption that we were. We’re middle aged, middle class so that would be the assumption that that’s what we do.

“I think sometimes other people are ready to be offended on other people’s behalf and I don’t think you should be allowed to be if something’s not directed at you; you can’t be offended by proxy.”

Do you think The Grand Tour purposely sets out to create headlines for promotion, or do you think it’s more about viewer’s reaction to things that have been taken the wrong way? Let us know in the comments below, and leave some support for your favourite presenters, too.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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16 Comments

  1. Everyone is offended these days. Yes, Jeep is a gay car. And what? Does that say something bad about gays? No. People, stop being assholes.

  2. It’s sad so many people are going out of their way to find something to be offended by so they can feel special and gain attention. If finding it all kind of sad.

  3. There will always be people who complain. These people are sad old non-entities who have the same rights to inhabit this earth as dog turds do. The SJW halfwits too. Green Part fascists also. The list is nearly endless. Stuff them all.

  4. Middle aged men from middle class? Hammond my man…you don’t know what middle class is. Your a rich mofo and the whole crew is. Get real

  5. I’m an openly gay man. I’ve never been offended by the Trio (Clarkson, May & Hammond). As a matter of fact I think they’re hilarious and dont have enough air time on British telly.

    We use stereotypes in humour all the time. Think of all the Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman jokes, think of all the comedians that use disabilities, cultural stereotypes and sexism in their routines. I think every single person has, at some point laughed at something that is fundamentally discriminatory at some point.

    I think we need to look at the intent behind it. Is it malicious? If the answer is yes then I completely agree they should be held to account as spreading hate is not the thing to do. If the answer is no, then be adult enough to realise it is just humour. I think it is done as part of the showmanship. So are we right to call them homophobic? No, I think they’re just using a certain brand of humour. If you don’t like it then don’t watch it.

    I’ve had heterosexual people at work who have been fiercely protective of me as a gay man and are definitely not homophobic and who’d I’d happily class as friends. They will make comments like “oh that’s so gay” or have called me a “bloody puff”. But you can tell from their demeanor it is intended in jest, that it is good humour and in that particular moment was a funny thing to say and I have taken it as such. Sometimes laughing about our differences helps makes it an inclusive environment. But had the same thing been said in a different context then yes I may have taken offence. I’ve got an Indian friend who points to his skin and says he wants his tea that colour, there is a black African lady, who I love working with, who quite often says “is it because I’m black?”. And sometimes when these matters are joked about it helps make them a topic of conversation rather than them being a taboo topic. And I think making everything politically correct and making people afraid to talk about their differences is more harmful and counter productive. Making it okay to talk about these things by injecting a bit of humour, in my opinion at least, is absolutely fine.

    So the situation and intent are key here. And I really don’t believe the Trio intend to be offensive, it’s not like they’re sat there saying “that car is ugly and useless and therefore it is gay and all gays are ugly useless things” etc and going on a 10 minute rant about how they hate gays. They’re not making it personal. And as such I use a modicum of common sense and say that it is intended as humour and whether I find it funny or not it may not reflect the actual characters or views of the Trio.

    I mean I’d be happy for the Trio to prove they’re not homophobic by taking me out on a nice motorbike tour. Tight leathers and bottom less chaps are optional. Obviously Clarkson could use a car as he likes his creature comforts far too much and could let my boyfriend hop in the passenger seat. I’m sure they could spend some quality time together discussing their views on how wrong motorbikes are. Maybe Clarkson could even use a Jeep?

    1. Holy crap, thank you for this!

      I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to take an objective, mature look at jokes and realize that they’re meant as entertainment, not as personal attacks!

      Also, like the Hamster says, the worst part is people getting offended by proxy. Half the people calling them homophobic probably aren’t even gay themselves – they’re just offended on behalf of the gay people that they assume the show is offending. Various parts of my persona have been the butt of jokes told by comedians at one point or another, sometimes at comedy shows I am in attendance for, and I just laugh along knowing that the joke was meant as exactly that – a joke. Unless someone specifically says my name and that they mean me specifically, I take nothing as a personal attack and try to find no offence in anything.

      At the end of the day, words don’t actually hurt people so there’s no reason to worry who says what if it doesn’t actually impact your day – and it almost never will.

  6. They’ve got a point, everything people say and do these days is -phobic to someone who just loves to get offended and cry about it on Twitter for some attention.
    I’m gay, a huge flaming, camp as a carry on movie covered in glitter, homosexual and couldn’t give a shit what people say.
    None of these paedo loving freaks speak for me, nor any of the puffs I know.

  7. No way. They’re not. They’re pure Gold. Just saying things that guys say. It’s pure rubbish. I remember when we all used to be like “that’s gay, that’s retarded”. I dunno. We just talk that way. We were born into a world where those slanders were the norm. A lot of us were not homophobic or would take a run at anyone with disabilities.

  8. Why THE F**K does it matter?! If your b**ch ass feeling get gurt because someone thinks different than you on something so soooo f**king minor you are a complete IDIOT! If this is you.. You and your stupid liberal p**sy feelings can eat a bullet.. Good job

  9. Sorry to see the shit storm created by your media across the pond is just as bad as it is in the States. The race card, the LBGT card, the global warming card. Various media outlets, and by that I mean all media outlets, just want to rile you up and keep you on edge so you tune into their BS.
    Love your work guys. Good on ya fellows….oops that’s Austrailian lingo. Who did I just piss off?

  10. Standing up for himself and his mates!! Awesome job. Everyone is looking for something to complain or bitch about nowadays. Glad to finally see someone not cave into the bs!

  11. Everyone is looking for a reason to be offended or butthurt. They need to get over themselves. They have no right to not be offended. I’m offended that they’re offended, so what’s in it for me? Every straight guy makes “gay” jokes. It doesn’t mean we’re “Scared of gay people” i.e. homophobic. What you do in your bedroom has nothing to do with me and doesn’t affect me in any way, shape or means. I don’t care. If you’re gay, yay, good for you. Just don’t shove your lifestyle down my throat. I have lesbian friends, I have married gay friends, I have straight friends, but you know how I see them? Friends. Period.

  12. Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, and James May are all racist, sexist, homophobic, and i love it. Everyone is too scared to even joke about anything and Clarkson still jas people he needs to offend

  13. This is ridiculous. Is there a joke that exists anymore that doesn’t offend somebody. I am all for being socially conscious, but blanketing people as homophobic and accusing of them of being socially unconscious is just as bad. Not everyone has the same views politically socially or morally. Where does it end? If we cancel all shows that could be offensive we will have no television entertainment. I am a US Veteran. The TV show NCIS offends me ALWAYS. It has ran for 11 seasons because some people actually believe that is how it works. I don’t demand for them to be canceled. Do you know why? That would be call CENSORSHIP. When a small select group or groups of people decide what the whole world wants to watch is when we have truly fallen into world of tyranny and true oppression.

  14. To many bloody softies in the world these days. So what if something offended you, nobody with a sense of humour or an ounce of common sense really cares. If you know you are easily offended it is you who is the problem. Why should anyone be forced to be censored because a cry baby had their (now let’s face it straight on here) irrelevant feelings hurt. Keep up the good fight guys!!

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