“Mexican cars are just going to be a lazy, feckless, flatulent, oaf with a moustache leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat," said Hammond. The idea was quickly picked up by Clarkson, who added a few well-directed remarks about the Mexicans' sleeping habits.
The episode prompted one Mexican ambassador (the target of Clarkson's remarks, who said that the Mexican ambassador is probably asleep at the time the show aired, so nothing bad can happen to them) to react in a virulent letter sent to BBC.
But, as it's usually the case with high profile individuals, the story does not end here. A day after the ambassador's letter, Iris de la Torre, a 30 year-old Mexican jewellery design student, contacted firm Equal Justice and are now talking about suing Top Gear and BBC for racism.
"These remarks were probably calculated and deliberate to fuel anger and hence boost ratings - the presenters apparently feel that they are fighting a battle against political correctness," lawyer Lawrence Davies was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. Davies added that, should the case go to trial (it would be the first case to be brought to court under the Equality Act, which came into effect last September), it could cost BBC up to GBP1 million.
BBC did not respond until now on the charges, nor did it make any comments to the ambassador's letter. It did, however, file copyright infringement complaints to YouTube, so now pretty much all videos showing the three Top Gear hosts having a field day with Mexicans are blocked (this is why you can no longer see the video we presented yesterday). We are not aware of BBC having blocked any of the Top Gear videos on YouTube before.
But, since we like to cause debate, below you can see the incriminating video. This time, with Spanish subtitles. Enjoy.
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