Clarkson, right, with "Top Gear" cohost Richard Hammond. Youtube/Top Gear Controversial "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson, 54, has been suspended by the BBC after a "fracas with a producer," the network said.

According to BBC News special correspondent Lucy Manning, Clarkson allegedly hit one of the show's producers last week, but the incident was not reported to the BBC until Monday.

As a result of the suspension, the BBC has pulled Clarkson's highly popular car show "Top Gear" from its television lineup. According to Manning, the remaining three episodes of the show's 22nd season will be canceled.

Clarkson, who is also a highly paid newspaper columnist, has been reprimanded on several occasions by the BBC for his controversial statements.

This latest incident is not the first dustup in Clarkson's illustrious career.

In 2003, the "Top Gear" host received widespread attention for throwing a glass of water at and threatening Piers Morgan, then the Daily Mirror editor, with physical harm on board the last flight of the Concorde after the newspaper published photos in which Clarkson was embracing a woman who was not his wife.

A year later, at the British Press Awards, Clarkson and archnemesis Morgan confronted each other once again. This time punches were thrown, and Clarkson swung at and hit Morgan in the temple.

Both Clarkson and Morgan would later confirm that the "Top Gear" host broke his finger in the fracas.



In 2014, Clarkson found himself and his show mired in controversy after outtakes from an episode of "Top Gear" showed his using racially insensitive language. Clarkson was reprimanded last year by British government media regulators Ofcom for using another racially insensitive term to describe a person of South Asian origin in an episode of the show.

According to BBC News, Clarkson had been given a "final warning" after his controversial comments in 2014. The network had reportedly threatened to fire the host if there were any further incidents.

"Top Gear," in its present format, has been on the air since 2002 with the trio of Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May at the helm.

Over the past decade, "Top Gear" has become a global media phenomenon, with 350 million viewers worldwide, and it has spawned local spinoffs in Australia, China, South Korea, Russia, and the US. In total, the "Top Gear" brand is valued at an estimated $1.5 billion.

In addition to the studio broadcast, "Top Gear" also boasts a popular live stadium show, 3 million YouTube subscribers, and a magazine with 1.7 million global readers.

When asked by reporters, BBC director general Tony Hall admitted being a fan of Clarkson, but also made it clear that the severity of the incident requires that the organization complete a thorough investigation.

Since news of Clarkson's suspension and the show's removal from the airwaves broke, support from fans has been swift.

Within a day, more than half a million of the show's fans have signed an online petition seeking Clarkson's reinstatement.

Here is the BBC's complete statement: