Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear host, says he has finally “declared victory” in his long-standing legal battle with Elon Musk — 17 years after Musk sued him over a critical review of a Tesla car.
The Feud Began with a Top Gear Review in 2008
In a 2008 episode of Top Gear, Clarkson reviewed the original Tesla Roadster and didn’t hold back. He described the electric sports car as “unreliable,” “ridiculously expensive,” and joked that it “weighed more than most moons,” suggesting it didn’t handle well.
The review didn’t go down well with Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO responded by suing the BBC and Clarkson for defamation, claiming the review was unfair and biased against electric vehicles. Musk also alleged Clarkson wrote the review before actually driving the car.
Clarkson Responds Years Later
Now, in a column published on March 23 in The Times, Clarkson reflected on the case and said Musk lost both the lawsuit and the appeal. “He’s never really got over it,” Clarkson wrote.
He added, “He still claims I was biased and that we pretended his car had broken down when it hadn’t. Even though it had.”
Clarkson joked that he considered suing Musk in return but chose not to, quipping, “I feared he’d call me a paedo, so instead I just waited on the riverbank for his body to float past. And now it has.”
Musk and Tesla’s Reputation in 2024
Clarkson went further, commenting on what he sees as Musk’s decline in popularity, especially since his close involvement with politics, including his appointment by President Donald Trump.
He remarked, “Things are so bad that a friend of mine who was trying to save the world (and a few quid on the congestion charge) has now fitted a sticker to his Tesla saying he bought it before he knew Musk was an idiot.”
Musk Responded to the Lawsuit Loss in 2013
After the lawsuit was dismissed in 2013, Musk spoke to the BBC’s Newsnight. He acknowledged that Top Gear was “more about entertainment than truth,” and admitted that Clarkson could be funny. However, he believed Clarkson had a clear bias against electric cars and American vehicles.
“We’re an American electric car, so we’re in the worst possible situation for someone like Clarkson,” Musk said at the time.