Last year’s controversial race row seems to have done enough damage to the popularity and credibility of the reality show Celebrity Big Brother, to have made the show organisers send prior warnings to the contestants to avoid indulging in something as degrading and destructive as the racism row. Last year reality star Jade Goody created a stir when she allegedly racially abused Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.
The participants of this year’s event, who include television presenter Ulrika Jonsson and diminutive Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer, have been advised to watch the last series of the reality show so that they can have a better idea of things to avoid when they are residing in the Celebrity Big Brother house. Moreover, it is also expected to help them to behave in a proper manner with the other contestants, most of whom belong to different backgrounds, communities and have different upbringings.
Miss Goody, for her part, had the audacity to call her co-star Shilpa Shetty “Shilpa Poppadom”, apart from hurling many third degree comments that led to wide protests all over, especially in India where her effigy was burnt in many places of the country. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also strongly condemned the incident and described that the comments were totally uncalled for. That’s not all as protests reached a feverish pitch and the situation quickly spiralled out of control prompting the Channel 4 bosses to render a quick apology and disown Miss Goody from the show.
Miss Goody particularly turned out to be the villain number one of the country, with many names hurled at her leaving her totally traumatized. Though she asked for an unconditional apology to the Indian people and Shilpa Shetty, in particular, the incident has left an impregnable impact and highlighted the deep rooted racial discrimination that still exists in the country.