Blair drawn into 'Big Brother' racial abuse row
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
LONDON
Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday was drawn into a growing furor over a TV reality show that led to thousands of viewers' complaints about abuse of an Indian film star, saying he opposes racism but had not seen the program. His likely successor, Treasury chief Gordon Brown, waded further into the controversy, however, condemning the conduct of some of the show's participants.
Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, 31, has been repeatedly reduced to tears during "Celebrity Big Brother" by fellow contestant Jade Goody, who has called the actress' cooking untrustworthy, mocked her accent and complained about her "screeching." "I understand that in the U.K. there have already been 10,000 complaints from viewers about these remarks, which people see, rightly, as offensive," Brown told reporters Wednesday in India, where he was visiting.
"I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance. Anything detracting from this I condemn," said Brown. Shetty, meanwhile, became the favorite to win the competition. Bookmaker William Hill quoted odds of 6/4 that she would triumph, after taking a rush of bets for her in the previous 24 hours. "She has stuck in there and if she now picks up the public sympathy vote, punters certainly believe she will be very hard to beat," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.
As the controversy grew, so did the program's ratings. It pulled 4.5 million viewers on Tuesday, up from 3.5 million on Monday. There is a precedent for the most abused resident of the Big Brother house to emerge as the winner. Goody was lampooned and vilified for her weight and her lack of education before triumphing in 2002, and at one point demonstrators carrying "kill the pig" placards surrounded the house.
She went on to make millions and become a celebrity in her own right, complete with her own brand of perfume and an exercise video. A surge in complaints Tuesday followed a program in which another contestant, former member of the band S Club 7 Jo O'Meara, said Indians were thin because they undercooked their food. Keith Vaz, a member of the House of Commons of Indian origin, asked Blair whether broadcasters should take care not to transmit such material.
"I have not seen the particular program in question and cannot comment on it," Blair said. However, he added, "We should oppose racism in all its forms." The Indian government has raised concerns about the program. Reports of Shetty's treatment ran on front pages of several Indian papers Wednesday and it was the top story on the television news, which repeatedly showed clips from the show of the weeping actress.
"We are awaiting a report about the show. The government will take appropriate measures once it gets to know the full details," Anand Sharma, India's junior minister for external affairs, told journalists in New Delhi on Wednesday. In London, the Foreign Office said it had not received any communication from the Indian government about the program, nor had the British High Commission in New Delhi. One of the program's sponsors, Carphone Warehouse, denied reports that it was considering withdrawing.
"We are against racism in any shape or form. As sponsor of Celebrity Big Brother we have no involvement in the content of the program, but Channel 4 takes these allegations very seriously and we have full faith that they will deal with them in the appropriate way," the company said. Sylvester Stallone, in Britain to promote his new film "Rocky Balboa," said the abuse was "wrong, obviously, but you can't expect people to act normally in that situation."
"Shilpa is a beautiful woman. Everybody should stand corrected and just move on," Stallone said in a radio interview. "It's a game, people." The actor's mother, Jacqueline Stallone, as well as his ex-wife, Brigitte Nielsen, both appeared on "Celebrity Big Brother" two years ago.
