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Big Brother sponsor pulls out after Shilpa faces more of mates’ four-letter fury
The transnational outrage over Shilpa Shetty’s “ordeal” in Celebrity Big Brother house has secured its first little victory— the show’s sponsor, Carphone Warehouse, announced today that it was withdrawing its £3 million (Rs 26 crore) a year sponsorship.
Only a day earlier, the mobile phone and telecom firm had insisted it would continue its financial support, one of
the biggest sponsorship deals in UK’s TV history. But Channels 4 is not flinching. A Guardian report said when a journalist approached Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan, he refused comment, and stuck his finger up at a photographer.
The channel later issued a statement saying, “To date there has been no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour — however, there is undoubtedly been a cultural and class clash.”
The cloud over the show’s finances did not, however, mean Shilpa was having a better time in the house of horror. Last night’s furious row between Shilpa and the Gang of Three — Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O’Meara — transgressed all the limits of public decency.
It began over a chat about stock cubes and immediately took the familiar
turn — Jade questioning Shilp’s inability to speak English and then calling her
a “liar”. As Shilpa protested, Jade burst into an expletive-laden tirade: “You need elocution lessons… you need a day in slums. Go to those people who look up to you and be real. You f***ing fake.”
Shilpa threatened to quit and walked out of the room. The Gang laughed. Danielle then said to Jade, “That was f***ing fantastic, I loved it, I think she could f**k off home.” A distraught Shilpa was comforted by a sombre Germaine Jackson: “Calm down, calm down… Walk out from here as the same person that you are. Don’t stoop to that… you have class.”
Announcing the pull out, Carphone Warehouse chief executive Chris Dunstone said: “Our concerns has rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals within the Big Brother house… As a result, we feel that as long as this continues, we are unable to associate our brand with the programme.”
The decision to suspend the deal came soon after the media regulator, Ofcom, announced an investigation into the racism row. Ofcom has so far received more than 27,000 complaints, three times the previous record held by the controversial Jerry Springer — The Opera.
The show has also stoked a debate if the abusive Gang of Three represents modern Britain? Is Blair’s much-publicised vision of a multicultural society is a sham? Does Britain have a fourth class that is overtly racist and xenophobic?
On various radio, many Britons said they felt ashamed and one of them described the Big Brother as “a clash between a beauty and three beasts”.
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