Jeremy Clarkson, who leads a three-member line-up for BBC's motoring show 'Top Gear', was suspended following a "fracas" with a producer of the show.
It has now emerged that the "fracas" involved him punching producer Oisin Tymon over catering arrangements at an outdoor shooting location last week.
The 54-year-old has survived a string of controversies over the years, including making offensive remarks about Indians during shooting a 'Top Gear' 90-minute Christmas special back in December 2011.
During the show, Clarkson built a toilet into the back of a Jaguar claiming it would be "perfect" for tourists because "everyone" who visits the country suffers diarrhoea.
The show sparked a complaint from the Indian High Commission in the UK in January 2012, accusing the show of "cheap jibes" and "tasteless humour", adding that it "lacked cultural sensitivity".
Indian diplomats had complained to the BBC after the show was aired, describing it as a "disgusting" episode.
But Top Gear bosses had defended its team, saying the road trip across India was "filled with incidents, but none of them were an insult to the Indian people or the culture of the country".
"But there's a vast difference between showing a country, warts and all, and insulting it.
"It's simply not the case that we displayed a hostile or superior attitude to our hosts and that's very clear from the way the presenters can be seen to interact with them along the way."
The show has also run into trouble over comments about Mexicans and Burmese, with Clarkson being accused of "casual racism" and using racist words.
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