Matt LeBlanc In Hot Water After Filming A Burnout In Front Of A War Memorial For ‘Top Gear’

Let’s face it, we all knew Matt LeBlanc hosting Top Gear was a strange proposal, although even I thought he’d make it a bit longer than this before the controversy started.

Not the case it would seem as LeBlanc, co-host Chris Evans and the show’s producers have been thrown into damage control over outrage at LeBlanc filming a burnout in front of a London War Memorial. Not just any War Memorial mind you, but the Cenotaph, the monument that since being built to recognise those lost in WW1 has gone onto represent British soldiers lost in all wars since. Oops

The stunt saw the former Friends star – driven by stunt driver Ken Block – pass a wedding that was happening in the London suburb of Whitehall in the vicinity of the Cenotaph, before putting the pedal down and burning some rubber. Unfortunately, this happened right in front of the memorial.

Former British military commander Colonel Richard Kemp summed up the outrage when he told The Telegraph that the memorial “is a sacred tribute to millions of people who have done far more for their country than Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc ever will.”

LeBlanc and Evans being brought in as hosts after Jeremy Clarkson was let go after striking a producer, it seems LeBlanc might be aiming to fill the former host’s shoes as a trouble maker. Still, according to Kemp, this latest stunt was beyond even Clarkson’s limits of decency.

“Jeremy Clarkson was certainly no saint” he said, “but I don’t believe he would have ever performed a stunt in such bad taste.”

The BBC have apologised profusely for what happened, promising to cut any footage of the Cenotaph from the final program when it goes to air.

In the meantime though some video of the stunt was captured by the International Business Times UK and uploaded to their Facebook page. It can be viewed, here below.