Former Top Gear star Jeremy Clarkson is blasted for 'homophobic' tweet outside an Australian fudge factory during tour Down Under 

• Star, 55, made comment about fudge factory which references a gay slur
• Critics demand apology and accuse him of being homophobic
• Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are on tour of Australia 
• Last year he apologised after posting a picture with caption 'gay c***' 

By Martin Robinson and Kate Thomas and Karishma Sarkari For Mailonline

Published: 05:51 EST, 20 July 2015 | Updated: 08:14 EST, 20 July 2015

Jeremy Clarkson was today accused of being homophobic after tweeting a poor-taste joke about being sacked by the BBC.

The 55-year-old posted a photo of himself and Richard Hammond outside the Margaret River Fudge Factory in Australia with the caption: 'We have got jobs at last. Here. As packers'.

His joke was a nod to a phrase commonly considered a slur used to describe gay men, and has caused uproar.

A spokesman for gay rights charity Stonewall said: ‘We can’t quite see Clarkson in the confectionery industry, maybe it’s the sour taste that his racist and homophobic slurs leave. All we can see him packing up at the moment is his career.’

Row: Jeremy Clarkson's joke referring to himself and Hammond working in a fudge factory and referencing an offensive term for gay men has caused uproar

On Twitter Steve Gittins told him he was 'Still peddling the homophobia'  while @pandymonium01 tweeted: 'Continuing with the casual homophobia, @JeremyClarkson, I see. Not into life-long learning?

Critic ‏@m_maggie1234 said simply: '@JeremyClarkson Stop with the homophobic comments'.

Clarkson, Hammond and James May are on the Australian leg of their Clarkson, Hammond & May Live Tour – formerly called Top Gear Live.

The star was sacked earlier this year after punching a BBC producer in a row over a steak and his two former co-hosts have also decided to leave the corporation.

It is not the first time he has offended the gay community.  

Last year the Top Gear presenter was forced to apologise for posting a picture of himself asleep on a plane, with a sign with the words 'gay c***' written on it, and an arrow pointed at himself.

He shared the offensive picture on Twitter with the caption: 'Sadly, I fell asleep on the plane.'

Behind him, James May can be seen smiling at the prank, but Clarkson deleted the photo after a backlash from his followers and other Twitter users.

He then tweeted an apology, though it still had a joky tone: 'I have deleted my last tweet and would like to apologise profusely to anyone who I upset while I was asleep.'

In 2010 Clarkson also caused controversy when he said in a deleted scene: 'I demand the right not to be bummed.'

Delayed tour! The trio were forced to delay their visit, which was originally set to be the Top Gear Festival, after they were forced to remove all references of the series and rename the tour following Clarkson's sacking

Clarkson, May and Hammond kicked off their Australian tour on Saturday night in front of 14,000 fans at the Perth Arena

Clarkson appeared to have the most fun when he was on two wheels, pumping his hand up in the air as he rode a motorbike wearing a red polo helmet.

He was cheering as he represented Team England in one of the challenges against Team Australia, in the aptly titled series The Cr-Ashes.

During the 90 minute live show, the popular presenters took on Australians, actor Shane Jacobson, Top Gear Australia co-host Steve Pizzati and V8 Supercars host Riana Crehan in the segment which included Sidecar Polo, Car Rugby and V8 Cricket. 

The former BBC stars, who had to to strip all Top Gear branding from their live show after being sacked by the network in March, played up to the whole media saga. 

'Welcome, to what for legal reasons is now called Clarkson, Hammond and May Live,' Clarkson said after entering the arena on a hovercraft.

'For legal reasons, nothing we have ever done together has ever happened,' he joked dryly, adding: 'Our lawyers tell us that, for legal reasons, we have never met.' 

And in an indication that the TV co-hosts of 12 years are in fact set to make a return to the small screen, the group appeared in a pre-taped video 'pretending' to be TV presenters of a new car show. 

While Clarkson's BBC contract prevents him from doing another motor-based program in the UK for the next two years, it's understood together with Hammond, 45, and May,52, the trio will head to America to do an online series, with Netflix and Amazon reportedly among the bidders.

Jeremy cheered as he rode a motorbike around Perth Arena, kicking off the Clarkson, Hammond and May Live tour with his former Top Gear co-hosts

On the ball! Wearing red hats Clarkson and May seemed in control of the ball during the game of sidecar polo

But the worldwide tour has already caused controversy.

Last month Clarkson appeared to make a sick joke about Oscar Pistorius after he pretended to shoot someone during a South African show.

The former Top Gear host pretended to accidentally ‘shoot’ a member of the audience with a paintball gun.

Clarkson appeared to compare the incident to the killing of Pistorius’s model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, saying to the audience ‘I thought he was a burglar’.

Co-host James appeared to also join in with the bad-taste joke by clarifying: ‘Was that member of the audience you just shot in the bathroom?’ 

In a video posted online by an audience member, Clarkson can be seen riding in a chariot with a paintball gun when he shouts: ‘S*** it’s just gone off. I’ve hit somebody in the audience — it’s right in the middle of his..’

May commented: ‘I know we’ve changed the name of the show but not much else has changed’ before Hammond added: ‘He’s just shot a member of the audience.’

Though it appeared the trio were referring to the death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, neither Clarkson nor his co-hosts mentioned Pistorius or Reeva directly.

Pistorius was sentenced to five years in jail last year for shooting dead his model girlfriend at his home in South Africa on Valentine’s Day 2013.

Previous: Jeremy Clarkson upset people after tweeting a picture of himself asleep with a sign saying 'gay c**t' and an arrow pointing at himself

Explanation: Clarkson then had a joke at the expense of those who were angry with the message

Jeremy Clarkson in his final episode of Top Gear

THE WIT AND, ER, WISDOM OF MR MOTORMOUTH: CLARKSON CONTROVERSY

With his supersonically loud mouth, Jeremy Clarkson seems to revel in controversy. Here is just a small sample of the comments that have plunged him into hot water over the years...

ON CARS . . . AND WOMEN

Sacked: The BBC decided that Clarkson should go after punching a Top Gear producer

'Driving most supercars is like trying to manhandle a cow up a back staircase, but this one is like smearing honey on to Keira Knightley.'

'We start tonight with the highlight of my childhood. It's the Ladybird Book Of Motorcars from 1963 and, as you would imagine, it's full of rubbish really. Just endless, boring, grey shapes until you get to page 40, where you find the Maserati 3500 GT. Now this, for me, when I was little, was like kind of [glamour model] Jordan and Cameron Diaz. In a bath together. With a Lightning jet fighter. And lots of jelly.'

'The only person who looked good in a four-seated convertible was Adolf Hitler.'

On the Lotus Elise: 'This car is more fun than the entire French air force crashing into a firework factory.'

'Racing cars which have been converted for road use never really work. It's like making a hardcore adult film, and then editing it so that it can be shown in British hotels. You'd just end up with a sort of half-hour close-up of some bloke's sweaty face.'

'This is a Renault Espace, probably the best of the people-carriers. Not that that's much to shout about. That's like saying: 'Oh good, I've got syphilis, the best of the sexually transmitted diseases!'

ON POLITICS

'Supercars are supposed to run over Arthur Scargill and then run over him again for good measure. They are designed to melt ice caps, kill the poor, poison the water table, destroy the ozone layer, decimate indigenous wildlife, recapture the Falkland Islands and turn the entire Third World into a huge uninhabitable desert, all that before they nicked all the oil in the world.'

'The Green Party is against fracking, bankers' bonuses and cancer. And for fluffy kittens and soya beans.'

'Labour's transport spokesman says he doesn't like Top Gear. Good. We don't make it for people who wear pink ties.'

On Gordon Brown after the financial crash: 'We have this one-eyed Scottish idiot who keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying, but he's smooth at telling us.'

On public sector workers who strike: 'I'd have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families.'

After Ed Miliband was photographed during floods, he tweeted: 'Why is that t**t Miliband standing in a puddle, right next to dry land?'

SO VERY POLITICALLY INCORRECT

'I don't understand bus lanes. Why do poor people have to get to places quicker than I do?'

On the lunacy of road-calming schemes: 'People of Ulley Road, in Ashford, Kent. With all those stupid speed humps, I hope you never need an ambulance.'

On climate-change zealots: 'So, to sum up the BBC London News coverage of the lovely weather: you're going to get cancer and if you go swimming, you'll drown.'

He was criticised by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom after he joked that the Ferrari F430 Speciale 'looked like a simpleton' and should have been called 'Speciale Needs'.

GRATUITOUS INSULTS

He described the, now deceased, reality TV personality Jade Goody as a 'racist, pig-faced waste of blood and organs'.

Clarkson took aim at lorry drivers when he made what was seen to be a reference to Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and 'Suffolk Strangler' Steve Wright, who both drove lorries. 'What matters to lorry drivers? Murdering prostitutes? Fuel economy? This is a hard job and I'm not just saying this to win favour with lorry drivers: change gear; change gear; change gear; check your mirrors; murder a prostitute.'

'Drummers are a bit like houseflies. They're born, they make a noise, then they die.'

During England's disastrous 2014 World Cup: 'It seems the Germans spend their time practising football rather than getting tattoos and stupid haircuts. A lesson for England perhaps.'

'Mexico doesn't have an Olympic team… because anyone who can run, jump or swim is already across the [US] border.'

He mocked Indian culture in a Top Gear Christmas special when he staged a series of Carry On-style digs at the country's clothing, trains, toilets, food and history. At one point, he ridiculed the unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation among the poor by driving around the slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet. Showing off the car's convenience, he boasted: 'This is perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots.'

Last month he wrote: 'People up there [in Liverpool] earn less, die more quickly, have fewer jobs and live in houses that are worth the square root of sod all.' The Liverpool Echo said Clarkson had insulted the city. He replied on Twitter: 'People of Liverpool. Read what I actually wrote. Including the bits the local rag left out. Shocking journalism.'

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