bbc director general tony hall has said he will 'gather the facts' and make a decision 'based on a whale raft of things' regarding jeremy clarkson's future at the corporation clarkson was suspended from top gear last week following an alleged altercation with producer oisin tymon in a q&a session at the enders analysis conference in london today, the first two questions directed to lord hall related to clarkson scroll down for video  lord hall, director general of the bbc, last week described himself as a 'fan' of top gear presenter clarkson  he began: 'i thought for one glorious moment, you know ' (that he might not get a clarkson question), a joke that drew laughs 'the most important thing is to gather the facts around you and not listen to all the speculation and let me tell you i will gather the facts and make my decision based on a whole raft of things' business insider then asked him whether it was healthy to keep staff on board who might be punching their colleagues 'you should gather the facts from the people concerned before you make your decision and that's exactly what i'm doing,' hall said, to more laughter it is believed clarkson has the support of lord hall and only last week he described himself as a 'fan' of the top gear boss he also intervened to overrule director of bbc television danny cohen last year, who was said to have wanted to take disciplinary action against the presenter in the wake of his mumbled use of the 'n word' in a top gear outtake jeremy clarkson was spotted leaving his west london home today in a leather jacket and dark sunglasses  the row between clarkson and tymon was said to have taken place because no hot food was laid on for the presenter following a day's filming in north yorkshire mr tymon did not file a formal complaint and it is understood clarkson reported the incident himself writing in his column in the sun newspaper, clarkson appeared to hint that he was close to quitting, calling himself a 'dinosaur' and adding: 'these big imposing creatures have no place in a world which has moved on' an online petition to reinstate clarkson has reached more than 950,000 signatures media watchdog ofcom said it had received more than 100 complaints about top gear being replaced on bbc two with a red arrows documentary on sunday, march 15 the critic aa gill voiced his support for clarkson in his sunday times column, calling the investigation into the row 'preposterous and ponderous', and praised clarkson as hard working the controversial presenter was suspended from top gear last week following an alleged altercation with producer oisin tymon  the bbc has now launched an inquiry into what happened and ken macquarrie, the senior bbc executive entrusted with sorting out the awkward affair, is believed to be in london and starting work clarkson's contract runs out in march, and it is not clear whether it will be renewed, or whether clarkson himself will opt to leave the bbc top gear has been taken off air while the investigation is carried out clarkson is still scheduled to appear alongside co hosts james may and richard hammond at four live shows in norway on march 27 and 28 and all three men's contracts expire three days later the bbc declined to comment on whether clarkson's suspension, if it were still in force, would cover an appearance on a separate show the news comes as the racing driver who was the first stig on top gear has said that the bbc show would lose its 'fire' without the embattled clarkson perry mccarthy, who was the show's resident racing driver between 2002 to 2003, said top gear without clarkson simply 'won't work' elsewhere today, in a separate investigation, clarkson was cleared of racism after the bbc ruled his use of the term 'pikey' in a top gear episode in february 2014 was not designed to offend gypsies and travellers
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tony hall will 'gather the facts' before deciding on clarkson's future  presenter suspended last week after alleged altercation with producer  last week, lord hall described himself as a 'fan' of the top gear presenter  bbc has now launched an inquiry into what happened in yorkshire 