During her stay on Celebrity Big Brother 5, Shetty was alleged to be the target of racism and bullying by some other housemates, chiefly Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd.[36] After correcting Goody's mother, who mispronounced Shetty's name as 'Shiwpa', Shetty was mocked for her Indian accent and was branded "The Indian" and was referred to as a "dog" by Lloyd. Referring to Shetty, O'Meara generalised that all Indians were thin because they were "sick all the time" as a result of undercooking their food, following their belief that Shetty had undercooked a chicken,[37] which had given O'Meara diarrhoea.[38] Lloyd also mentioned that she disliked Shetty touching her food because she did not "know where her hands have been".
After Shetty had attempted to dispose of the left-over chicken soup down the toilet and had caused a blockage, housemate Jack Tweed suggested that she should pick the bones out with her teeth[38] and allegedly referred to her as a "fucking Paki",[40] although show producers denied this and stated that the word used was "cunt".[41][42] During a fierce argument, Goody told Shetty that she needed to "spend a day in the slums", although the media falsely reported this as "go back to the slums".[43] Claiming that she did not know Shilpa's surname, Goody referred to her as "Shilpa Fuckawallah", "Shilpa Daroopa", and "Shilpa Poppadom", later claiming that they were non-racist references to Indian food.[44][45] Lloyd had opined that Shetty's English-speaking skills were lacking and said she should "fuck off home".[46]
Shetty had been reduced to tears on several occasions, confiding to fellow housemate Ian Watkins: "I feel like I'm losing my dignity."[38] After the show, Goody stated that she understood her comments appeared as racist and apologized for any offence caused.[47] On 14 February 2007, Shetty said "Jade and Danielle did apologise. And I've forgiven them. Anyone, who knows me, knows I forgive and forget easily." On 17 February 2007, Shetty said that she wanted to forgive Jo O'Meara, but she and other Celebrity Big Brother contestants had difficulty contacting her.[48] After Goody apologised to Shetty for her behaviour, Tweed stated that he was very disappointed with Goody for apologizing, and called Shetty a "dick" after previously describing her as a "wanker". Shetty speculated that she might be a victim of racism,[49] but later retracted it by claiming: "People say things in anger."[44] In May 2007, Lloyd attended the premiere of Shetty's film Life in a... Metro in London, in which the two were photographed together.
The screening of the racial comments on UK television resulted in national and international media coverage, responses from the UK and Indian governments,[50] and the show's suspension during the 2008 season.[51] Many agencies and corporations cancelled their contracts with the housemates accused of racism, citing the allegations as the reason for the terminations. Also, many sponsors of the Big Brother series cancelled[52] or suspended[53] their sponsorship of the show. After conducting an investigation, Ofcom ruled that Channel 4 had breached the Ofcom code of conduct, and statutory sanctions were placed on the network.[54]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilpa_Shetty
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