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British TV bosses on the spot in Anglo-Indian race row
2007-01-21
British television bosses have been increasingly on the spot over a show that sparked an Anglo-Indian race row and resulted in viewers evicting the minor celebrity who tormented a Bollywood star. Jade Goody, 25, was ejected from the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality show late Friday in a move that was immediately hailed in India and Britain, which had seen a shadow cast over their close relations. In a post-eviction interview published Sunday, a tearful and distraught Goody now admits she had racially bullied Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, 31, and lamented the international furor her taunts had caused. Goody told the News of the World newspaper that "things that I may not think are racist can actually be racist" but it was her own fault for being ignorant about other people's cultures. "I hate myself right now," she was quoted as saying. "If that's the end of my career then I only have myself to blame." With her admission, the spotlight was now shifting from Goody to those behind the show itself. Channel 4 executives were due to meet Sunday amid allegations from London Mayor Ken Livingstone and others that they cynically encouraged racist behavior to boost ratings. "The fact that Channel 4 bosses edited the program and maximized the racism, I think shows they were just using racism as a way of getting more profits," Livingstone told BBC television. "I think they should now forfeit their franchise," he added. Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has disputed whether Goody's and others' comments were racist, instead saying it was "unquestionably a good thing that the program has raised these issues and provoked such a debate." Trevor Phillips, the chairman of Britain's Commission for Equality and Human Rights, said the vote may end Goody's career but raised troubling questions about Channel 4 executives. "Were the C4's executives right to maintain throughout the week that what we were witnessing was just a catfight, and had no element of 'racist motivation?'" Phillips asked in an article published in the News of the World. "Friday's vote made it clear that the British people disagreed with them," he said, adding it sent "a great message around the world about the kind of people we want to be." Phillips wrote that viewers knew that Goody and her alleged cohorts were "having a go at all Asians" when they questioned Shetty's hygiene, mimicked her accent and mocked her name. "Yet it took BB's producers several days to confront the housemates with their behavior. And C4 bosses have still failed to acknowledge that this conduct was racist at all," Phillips wrote. Shetty's family also hailed the eviction of the Bollywood star's chief tormentor as a triumph of "good over evil," said Dale Bhagwagar, a spokesman for Shetty and her family. Along with former Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd and one-time pop star Jo O'Meara, Goody, a former Big Brother contestant, reduced Shetty to tears several times. Shetty has been called a "dog" and asked whether she lives in a shack, prompting protestors in India to burn effigies of the show's producers. There were some attempts at reconciliation in the days before Goody's eviction. Shetty withdrew her earlier claim of racism, while Goody and Lloyd apologized for their remarks. Those who remain on the show are unaware of the row's dimensions as they live in a studio house shut off from the world under 24-hour television scrutiny. The program that began in early January is to end January 28 when the viewers choose a favourite. With 40,000 complaints from viewers and police launching a probe into allegations of racism, the bad publicity has proved to be a double-edged sword for Channel 4. Viewing figures Friday peaked at 8.8 million people and averaged 7.8 million -- marginally better than Channel Four's top figures for 2006. However, mobile phone company Carphone Warehouse on Thursday suspended its multi-million-pound sponsorship of the show. In a bid to defuse the row, a Channel 4 spokeswoman said the profits on the telephone calls -- or 10 pence (19 cents) on each 50-pence call (98 cents) -- it received for Friday's eviction vote will be given to a charity. The amount will be revealed after the series ends on January 28.
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