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Watching this clip again it is not just the afro wigs and the blacked-up faces that are inappropriate and may cause offence, it is also the dialogue. I said above that people should just ignore it but if someone is a bit sensitive it is probably the utterings of the performers, aswell as how they look, which will offend. The opening bit of the performance sees two of them stand up, face each other, and go:

"yo, Randeee...!!"
"yo, Jermaiiiiinnnnne!!"

Both said in a black American accent. This issue has been gathering momentum ever since it happened, there is so much on YouTube about it. People have posted their own videos commenting on it.

[quote]What I am saying is that his kind of banter is in such a peculiar way repetitive (especially when he talks about the French) that it reveals his actual feelings, and not in a good way.[/quote]

I'm not saying you're incorrect. Maybe he hates the French. Me? I just think he knows it's a cheap way to get a laugh. It's not right but it doesn't necessarily conclude a hatred for a whole nation.

[quote]Of course, many stereotypes are based on facts to some extent, otherwise they wouldn't survive as popular stereotypes.[/quote]

There's some truth to that but it's not always the case. And truth or not, all I'm saying is that it's much more problematic when 3 world leaders are caught joking about another nation's culture when compared to a tv host. I doubt Chirac and any other Euro politicians go out at 2am, in Britain, for chicken and chips at the cheapest place in town. Was this subject the topic of mockery due to health concerns for the Brits or, like you think with Clarkson, does it show signs of xenophobia and hatred towards the British? I wonder what they say about us when the cameras aren't rolling and journalists are out of earshot?

Is it ok for Gordon Brown to be caught saying you can't trust any country who's residents stink of garlic? Or that you can't trust a nation that still uses the killing of bulls as entertainment? You see, that's the trouble with stereotyping: For every Frenchman that smells of garlic and the mockery is justified there are nine other Frenchmen that don't and should rightly be annoyed. The same with the Spanish and the slaughter of bulls and the same with the Brits and their cooking. Again, I'd have expected more from supposed world leaders and find it much more serious and offensive.

In fact, you could say that if there's some truth to the stereotype then all the more reason not to make a mockery of it for your own entertainment. Do you think it would be ok for Brown and Obama to joke about Arabs cutting the hands off of petty thieves, or not trusting Brazilians due to a higher HIV infection rate?

Sorry for going on a little. You just seemed willing to criticise the group that blacked up, and Clarkson for he stereotypical crap, but when it came to a few European leaders mocking the British you didn't seem to be as eager to condemn and typed out a few paragraphs that backed up Chirac's claim. That leads me to suspect you might have certain prejudices of your own.