GettyJeremy Clarkson has claimed an Argentinian airport employee stopped him from boarding a flight from Germany to the UK in a ‘hate crime’.
The presenter and his two co-hosts, James May and Richard Hammond, claimed they were kicked off the flight from Stuttgart to London Heathrow when a check-in agent allegedly stopped them from boarding.
The former Top Gear co-presenters were due to take a British Airways flight back to the UK after filming their new programme, The Grand Tour, when the airline employee, whom Clarkson reportedly referred as an ‘ignorant little worm’, told his colleagues ‘the three men were too drunk to fly, which prevented them boarding’, The Sun reports.
GettyClarkson told The Sun:
Our security guys turned round and said, ‘They’re not letting us on.’
I said to this little bald guy, ‘What’s the problem?’ He had a big smile on his face.
He said, ‘You’ve missed it.’ We said we had left the lounge when we were told, and he said, ‘I’m from Argentina so fuck you.’
He’s a stupid, bitter and twisted little man. [He] made us miss our plane and he will pay for it.
The police said it was a hate crime and he would be arrested. Yes, even the Germans were 100 per cent on our side — for once.
BBCBut Reutlingen police told The Telegraph that no charges were pressed nor was anybody arrested. They also added that they don’t know what was said during the argument, but were not aware of any ‘hate crimes’ allegations.
The BBC also reports the airport worker insists he wasn’t rude – and says he is Spanish, not Argentinian.
The disagreement followed a row between Clarkson and Argentinian officials over a number plate featured on a car in BBC’s Top Gear 2014 Christmas special.
GettyClarkon sparked anger after driving through Argentina in a grey Porsche with the number plate H982 FKL on it. War vets accused Clarkson of goading them over the 1982 Falklands War.
The Top Gear team ended up having to cut short filming and flee the country with a police escort after being told to leave by angry locals who stormed their hotel in Ushuaia and threatened to kill him.
