Awkward Megan Thee Stallion interview leads to F1’s ‘Brundle clause’

An awkward interview with Megan Thee Stallion has ushered in new broadcasting rules for Formula One.

In late October, veteran Formula One broadcaster Martin Brundle sought to interview the rapper, who declined to share a freestyle rap on the day of the race. Security later told Brundle, who is also a former driver, that he couldn’t talk to her as he did.

 “I can do that, ’cause I did,” Brundle said to a member of her entourage.

And it appears he’ll be able to do so going forward, as well.

“There have been new rules introduced, that any celebrities on the grid must not have bodyguards any longer,” Brundle said in new comments this week, according to The Sun.

The veteran broadcaster, who bemoaned that bodyguards “could maybe learn some manners and respect on our patch” in October, joked about the unofficial moniker of the protocols.

“It must be the ‘Brundle clause’, and they’re obliged to talk to me. I sort of like it if they ignore me, to be honest,” Brundle said. “I like to call out some of the celebs that I think are just using the grid a little bit if I’m honest. They don’t really have a passion. I know there are millions of fans at home going ‘I should be on that grid. I’m a massive Formula 1 fan, not them.’”

Brundle proceeded to make a joke about Megan Thee Stallion’s bodyguard, calling him a “Malfoy lookalike” in a reference to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts nemesis, Draco Malfoy.

“But my claim to fame at last,” he said. “I get ignored by Megan Thee Stallion, I get biffed out of the way by a man mountain and then told off by a Malfoy lookalike who doubtless was on his first-ever time to a Formula 1 grid. I put out a simple tweet about it and got five million impressions. I don’t understand any of that, to be honest”.