Female Beauty

Concerns have been raised that Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, 31, is a victim of abuse on the Britain’s hit reality-television show “Celebrity Big Brother.” She has been repeatedly reduced to tears by a fellow contestant who has called the actress’ cooking untrustworthy, mocked her accent and complained to viewers about her “screeching.” Although Shilpa has not made any direct comments about racism on the show, she has complained about how she is being treated by some of the housemates and asked why Jo O’Meara, Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd have made derogatory comments about Indian food and how they eat while Jackiey Budden, Jade’s mother, could not say the Bollywood actress’ name properly and referred to her as “the Indian”.

Meanwhile, Guardian reported that Channel 4 has told Celebrity Big Brother sponsor Carphone Warehouse that any behaviour deemed racist during the rest of the series could result in the removal of the offending housemate. The broadcaster has given guarantees to the show’s sponsor that it will not tolerate such controversial incidents, according to sources familiar with the situation. Channel 4 has pledged to “take necessary steps”, indicating that it could go as far as removing a housemate to avoid escalating the situation further, after Channel 4 and media regulator Ofcom received at least 21,000 complaints over the past 48 hours about alleged racism in the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Sponsors are not allowed to influence the editorial direction of TV programmes. However, it is understood that the Carphone Warehouse founder and chief executive, Charles Dunstone, has spoken directly to the Channel 4 chief executive, Andy Duncan, about the seriousness of the situation. The company also reiterated its stance on the events in the Celebrity Big Brother house over the past few days: “We are against racism in any shape or form. As sponsor we have no involvement in the content of the programme, but have full faith in Channel 4 and that they will deal with any serious allegations such as this in the appropriate way.” However, the mobile phone company is said to have sought assurances from Channel 4 that it will tone down the casting and editing of the long-running reality show, to place less emphasis on extreme characters.

Labour MP Keith Vaz tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons objecting to the comments made about Shilpa by her other housemates. He is calling on Channel 4 producers to take “urgent action to remind housemates that racist behaviour is unacceptable”.

Wednesday in the British Parliament, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked about his government’s position on the controversy during the session’s question time, “First of all let me say to my right honorable friend, Keith Vaz, that I have not seen the particular program in question, therefore can’t comment on it. Of course I will agree entirely with the principle he has outlined which is that we should oppose racism in all its forms.”

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said it took allegations of bullying or racial abuse “extremely seriously”, and said housemates in the Big Brother house were monitored at all times to ensure they had the proper support to deal with any conflicts. Individuals on the show may be reprimanded if necessary, she said, but noted: “The nature of the show often includes incidents where conflicts arise and housemates are encouraged to resolve issues among themselves.”

Updated:

Carphone Warehouse has pulled its sponsorship of Celebrity Big Brother in the wake of the “Shettygate” racism scandal, the BBC reports. The company said its backing for the current series was cancelled “with immediate effect”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Career, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Gossip, Personality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.