The City Of Westminster Isn't Happy About Top Gear's Cenotaph Hoon
Top Gear always had a thing for courting controversy under Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, and that tradition seems to be continuing with Chris Evans as host, with the show angering many for burning rubber near London’s Cenotaph war memorial. Evans has apologised “unreservedly” for filming at the weekend featuring Ken Block kicking up a load of tyre smoke near the monument, but in an interesting turn, the City of Westminster has said that the shoot went against what had been agreed when it gave permission for the show to use closed roads in the London borough.
In a statement, it said: “Respect for the Cenotaph and its special place in the heart of London is vitally important. Therefore Westminster City Council takes any requests for filming in Whitehall and near the Cenotaph very seriously indeed.” The statement goes on to say: “permission was given for the Top Gear car to drive down Whitehall before moving to another location…There was no discussion between BBC producers and Westminster City Council about wheel spins and a ‘donut’ and permission would not have been given to do so.”
However, the BBC has released its own statement, noting that the filming efforts were part of a “large-scale, complex shoot, prepared over a period of four months” and went on to say that:
“The Cenotaph was at no point intended to feature in the programme and therefore will not appear in the final film. However, we are acutely aware of how some of the images in the press look today via the angle and distance they were taken and for which, as Chris Evans has already said, we sincerely apologise.”
A BBC spokesperson has also said that the car was 40 metres away from the memorial while being filmed, but paparazzi photos made it appear as though Ken Block’s ‘Hoonicorn’ Ford Mustang was a lot closer.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Little hoon never killed nobody, now shut up
I love it when the Government pretends to care about its armed forces. Over 10% of homeless people on the street are veterans, PTSD has been ignored for years and the Armed Forces New Employment Model shafts those who are still serving….but don’t you drift 40m away from a memorial because you might dishonour our fallen!
Yeah, I chewed out my friends mom for a pic she posted recently. Some war memorial fountain somewhere in Texas. Had her 2 daughters (both late teens) sitting on the fountain, and she said “here’s my 2 darlings, supporting the troops”. Fck no, if you want them supporting the troops, you better get them hand feeding those who have served and are homeless and/or disabled. Sitting on a fountain is supporting… My a*.
Britain is seemingly the worst country for petrolheads ever, how the hell did they manage to make the best petrolhead show there?!
Quite a lot of Areas in the UK would’ve been more than fine with this, because its all in good fun. The reason why people are throwing a fit is because its Westminster - a place full of snobby rich gits who love nothing more than to rain on your parade.
Nah mate, the rules in Australia are screwed up. So bad
you should see Singapore the prices for the cars here are so high some people can’t even get one
Oh please, get over it ! Everywhere else they loved it because motorheads crave this stuff. If you don’t like it then you’re destined to ride in a self driving electric car !
there is a real easy way to solve this, go there and check where the tyre marks are
All i can say is HA!
didn’t the people that that monument represents die so that people were free to do whatever they want? So really Kenny from the block doing skids is paying homage to the war vets
BBC be like
My view is that permission was given for Ken Block to drive on a closed road, and unless you live under a rock you should know exactly how Ken Block drives on a closed road! It’s a bit like agreeing to Frankie Boyle interviewing the Queen and then crying because he said things that a Scottish person says.