The Mirror, a British tabloid, posted an unused clip from Season 19, Episode 6 of Top Gear, in which Jeremy Clarkson mutters something that the newspaper interprets to be the N-word. The incident occurs as the outspoken 54-year-old host recites a familiar nursery rhyme in order to choose between Toyota and Subaru’s rear-drive coupe twins, the GT86 and BRZ. Here's the video:

The video promptly exploded across social media, where many users expressed a desire to see Clarkson, whose political incorrectness is part of his public persona, fired over the incident.

Clarkson immediately and flatly denied using the slur.

Today, he released a video response to the allegations, apologizing and explaining that he personally requested that segment never air because after seeing the footage, he realized it sounded like he did use the N-word, despite efforts (by mumbling and changing words around) not to. This tweet links directly to Clarkson's video statement:

James May and Richard Hammond both took to Twitter to express support for their Top Gear colleague:

Those who dislike Clarkson already will continue to do so and may liken this to the Donald Sterling scandal currently rocking the NBA. But where the Sterling tapes left no doubt as to the horrifying nature of his comments, after several listens, our consensus is that the Clarkson tape is inconclusive at best, and that The Mirror probably has a big legal fight on its hands.

Whether the BBC plans to take any action in response to the allegations remains to be seen. The story is very much ongoing.