bigboyBlue
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2007 23:09
Anyone else following this in the news? What do you think????
Big Brother race spat to be decided - by viewers
THE two key players in the racism scandal that has engulfed Britain's Celebrity Big Brother will be judged by the court of public opinion within hours after both were nominated for eviction from the house.
There has been mounting outrage at the flagrant racism targeting Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty by the other housemates - in particular Jade Goody, whose loudmouth antics on a previous BB series made her a household name in Britain. Either Goody or Shetty will be evicted tonight, UK time (tomorrow AEDT). Shetty has withdrawn her complaint of racial discrimination against fellow housemates, but controversy continues over the show, which has broken all records for the number of complaints by the public to its broadcaster, Channel 4.
Shetty, a Tamil-born actress who has made 51 Bollywood films, has been referred to as a "dog", while housemates complained after she had touched their food, and Ms Shetty was also asked if she lives in a hut. She was also called "the Indian", with housemate Jade Goody overnight dubbing her "Shilpa Poppadum".
The show's sole sponsor, Carphone Warehouse, yesterday pulled its £3m endorsement of the program and the UK culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, described it as "racism being presented as entertainment". "I think it is disgusting," Ms Jowell said.
In a video hosted on Big Brother UK's website, Ms Shetty has said she doesn't believe the attacks were racially motivated.
"I don't feel there was any racial discrimination from Jade's end," Channel 4 television quoted her as saying on its website.
In a conversation with the show's Big Brother character, Ms Shetty was asked her if she still thought that Jade's argument with her was racially motivated, to which she shook her head.
"No, I take it back. Everyone was having an argument. I don't think that is true now. People say things in a fit of anger. But I stand corrected," the actress said.
Hertfordshire police have referred complaints about the alleged racial harassment to the UK's media regulator, OfCom.
Australian-born author Germaine Greer, wrote in The Guardian this week that Ms Shetty "knows that if she infuriates people enough, their innate racism will spew forth".
"Everything about her is infuriating: her haughty way of stalking about, her indomitable self-confidence, her chandelier earrings, her leaping eyebrows, her mirthless smile, her putty nose and her eternal bray, "Why does everyone hate me?" Not to mention the crying jags," wrote Greer.
The Indian press has also covered the story extensively, with Rashmee Roshan Lall writing in today's Times of India that wider issues of "underlying racism and class envy in British society assumed a darker dimension", as the program's producers have claimed that the show "had hit a nerve that really reflects society at large".
Channel 4 has refused to pull the program, despite receiving 33,000 complaints to date.
The network's Celebrity Big Brother site was also reporting today that Ms Shetty and Ms Goody had "made up" in the house's "Nowhere" room. "I know that what has happened has not been nice for you... and a lot of stuff got said the other day from you and from myself," Ms Goody said.
"I know that," replied Ms Shetty. "I don't think you're racist."
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