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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy


During her time on Celebrity Big Brother, Shetty was allegedly a target of racism and bullying by other housemates, chiefly by Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd. After mocking the east London dialect of Jade Goody's mother, who mispronounced her name as 'Shiwpa', Shetty was mocked for her Indian accent and was branded "The Indian" and a "dog". Disparaging conversations took place among the other housemates about Indian eating habits, and Shetty's cooking was criticised for giving O'Meara diarrhea. After Shetty attempted to dispose of left-over chicken soup down the toilet and caused a blockage, Jack Tweed suggested that she should pick the bones out with her teeth and allegedly referred to her as a "fucking Paki", although show producers denied this and stated that the word used was "cunt". During a fierce argument, Goody told Shetty that she needed to "spend a day in the slums", although the media falsely reported this as "go back to the slums". Claiming that she did not know Shilpa's surname, Jade referred to her as "Shilpa Fuckawallah", "Shilpa Durupa", and "Shilpa Poppadom", later claiming that they were non-racist references to Indian food. Lloyd had opined that Shetty's English-speaking skills were lacking and verbally indicated her desire that Shetty would "fuck off home. Shetty had been reduced to tears on several occasions, confiding to fellow housemate Ian Watkins: "I feel like I'm losing my dignity.
Shetty speculated that she might be a victim of racism,[ but later retracted it by claiming: "People say things in anger." A record 40,000 complaints were received jointly by OFCOM and Channel 4 about the treatment of Shetty, 30 of which were formally investigated by Hertfordshire police.

Wikinews has related news:
Big Brother star meets Tony Blair
UK Celebrity Big Brother loses sponsorship over racism allegations
Carphone Warehouse suspended its sponsorship of the show[75] and Louise Burfitt-Dons, the founder of the Act Against Bullying charity, branded Jade Goody's behaviour as "unforgivable".The controversy reached the British Parliament as an early day motion in the House of Commons was tabled.The row then escalated into an international diplomatic incident after a formal complaint from Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma lodged with then British PM Tony Blair that threatened to sour relations and damage trade between the two countries. In the city of Patna in Bihar, India, angry protestors marched in the streets and burned effigies in protest of the show, terming it 'Bigot Brother'.
During a parliamentary Prime Minister's Question Time session Blair responded that "We should oppose racism in all its forms." Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was in India on a goodwill visit, condemned the controversy as "offensive" and the opposite of what Britain stood for: "I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance. Anything that detracts from that I condemn. In an official statement, Channel 4 denied that overt racial abuse or behaviour had been directed at Shetty, but acknowledged that a "cultural and class clash" was responsible for the disputes. After a thorough investigation, OFCOM made an unprecedented move and issued a ruling that Channel 4 were guilty of broadcasting potentially racist material, and required them to make multiple apologies on air during the next Big Brother season

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