Jeremy Clarkson berated a Top Gear producer throughout the evening of March 4 before he attacked him physically until a witness intervened, the BBC said in their investigation of the incident that led to Clarkson’s termination from the famed motoring program.
The investigation led by BBC Scotland head Ken MacQuarrie was based on interviews with the participants in the so-called “fracas” and witnesses. It says that the incident took place at the Simonstone Hall Hotel in North Yorkshire during a Top Gear shoot, a few hours after filming took place in the Surrey studio.
Producer Oisin Tymon “was subject to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Jeremy Clarkson” that left him with a swollen and bleeding lip. Whatever prompted this attack was not included in MacQuarrie’s report, but news reports have said it started because Clarkson was angry over receiving a dinner of cold cuts instead of a steak.
The physical attack happened on the hotel patio and lasted about 30 seconds until it was halted by the intervention of a witness. Tymon reportedly did not retaliate.
Clarkson’s verbal abuse continued inside the hotel, the report said, “and contained the strongest expletives and threats to sack” Tymon. It also included verbal assaults on other members of the Top Gear crew.
The report says Tymon was shocked by the incident and believed he lost his job, and he drove away for a medical examination. Over the next few days Clarkson made attempts to apologize to Tymon in person and via text and email. Clarkson reported the incident himself to BBC management on March 9.
The report concluded with this:
It was not disputed by Jeremy Clarkson or any witness that Oisin Tymon was the victim of an unprovoked physical and verbal attack. It is also clear to me that Oisin Tymon is an important creative member of the Top Gear team who is well-valued and respected. He has suffered significant personal distress as a result of this incident, through no fault of his own.
Here's the report in full: