Jeremy Clarkson’s co-star on The Grand Tour, James May, has suggested the presenter’s recent media tirade against Greta Thunberg stems from the fact that he’s “threatened” by her.
In recent times, Jeremy has repeatedly slammed the 16-year-old climate change activist, branding her everything from a “spoilt brat” and an “idiot” to a “weird Swede with a bad temper”.
More recently, the former Top Gear star – who was infamously dropped by the BBC after punching a producer while filming on location – claimed Greta was responsible for “killing” car shows like the ones he’s worked on in the past.
It seems that his co-presenter James May doesn’t quite agree with him, though.
Speaking to Bang Showbiz, James suggested: “He’s feeling threatened or something. I don’t think Greta’s destroyed car programmes.
“We’re still making ours and as far as I saw the other day the BBC are still making [Top Gear] and there are still quite a few on the internet.”
Responding to Jeremy’s claims that activists like Greta had made young people less interested in cars, James claimed: “In London, Manchester and other big cities around Europe, cars are expensive.
“They’re difficult to manage, it’s difficult to find somewhere to put them and the insurance is horrifying. At the moment we have Uber, and public transport is actually pretty good in places like London. It’s not that young people aren’t interested in cars it’s just that they don’t need to be interested.”
On Wednesday, Greta was named Time magazine’s Person Of The Year for her efforts in raising awareness of climate change.
The news got an unlikely response from Piers Morgan, who has repeatedly mocked Greta and been another of her most vocal critics.
He tweeted: “Congrats on becoming TIME ’s youngest ever Person of the Year.
“Whatever your view of her, and mine is decidedly mixed, she’s made a stunning impact on the climate change debate.”
Greta, who has spoken about her experiences of living with Asperger’s syndrome, has also had her fair share of celebrity supporters, which has included comedian John Bishop and The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
DJ Norman Cook – otherwise known as Fatboy Slim – also won praise when he played a remixed version of Greta’s iconic UN speech during one of his recent gigs.