FartinMowler
Jan 21st, 2007, 02:26 PM
I love British telivision and mini-series and when I read this I was surpised by the fact they actually have redneck telivision...
LONDON (AFP) - A British minor celebrity's future seemed in tatters after viewers evicted her from a reality television show for her "racist bullying" of a top Bollywood star which sparked international fury.
Viewers voted to kick out Jade Goody, who had taunted Indian actress Shilpa Shetty in the "Celebrity Big Brother" programme, where famous faces live shut off from the world under 24-hour television scrutiny.
Friday's eviction left Goody, 25, a former "Big Brother" contestant, facing the consequences of her actions and press villification for her treatment of film star Shetty.
With the atmosphere highly charged, television executives banned the crowds which usually gather outside the "Big Brother" house on the northern edge of London, following every eviction.
Goody received a massive 82 percent of the total public votes cast in a straight two-way choice that had been between her and Shetty, 31, but Channel 4 television declined to disclose how many people voted.
"In all honesty I'm disgusted with myself," said Goody, after emerging from the household to silence and learning about the full scale of the row she had caused.
British newspapers roundly savaged Goody for her antics in the house.
The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily and once a champion of Goody, said "incredible as it may seem, last night's vote was the most important in Britain since the last general election.
"It became a referendum on whether our nation, with the eyes of the world on us, was prepared to back a home-grown yob over a dignified Indian actress."
The programme makers were also mauled for not letting Goody face the full force of public anger.
Newspapers said Goody had been tipped off about the storm beyond the garden fence and been well-briefed on how to go about salvaging her public image.
"I look like a complete and utter nasty small person -- the sort of person I don't like myself," she said in the post-eviction interview on Channel Four television after viewing footage.
"I am not a racist and I sincerely, with my hand on my heart, apologise to anyone I have offended out there," she said.
Shetty's family hailed the eviction of the Bollywood star's chief tormentor as a triumph of "good over evil."
"This vote has shown that goodness always prevails, like in Bollywood films," a spokesman for Shetty and her family said.
"This vote was not about just one contestant facing eviction. It was a straightforward contest between Shilpa and Jade, between good and bad," Dale Bhagwagar told AFP.
In a subsequent statement, Shetty's mother hailed the vote.
"She (Goody) deserved to be evicted. She behaved in such a despicable manner," Shilpa's mother Sunanda Shetty told the private Times Now network.
The man tipped to be Britain's next prime minister, finance minister Gordon Brown, was again drawn into the row during a visit to a film studio in Mumbai on the final day of his Indian tour, urging viewers to vote for "tolerance."
Along with former Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd and one-time pop star Jo O'Meara, Goody has reduced Shetty to tears on numerous occasions.
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.
Mobile phone company Carphone Warehouse on Thursday suspended its multi-million-pound sponsorship of the show.
Lloyd's sponsorship deal with an insurance firm has been ditched, while retailer the Perfume Shop has stopped stocking Goody's fragrance.
Around 40,000 people have complained to media watchdog Ofcom and police have launched an investigation into allegations of racism.
There have been some attempts at reconciliation. Shetty has withdrawn her claim of racism, while Goody and Lloyd have apologised for their remarks.
Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has disputed whether comments were racist, instead saying it was "unquestionably a good thing that the programme has raised these issues and provoked such a debate."
Viewing figures Friday peaked at 8.8 million people and averaged 7.8 million -- marginally better than Channel Four's top figures for 2006.
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.
LONDON (AFP) - A British minor celebrity's future seemed in tatters after viewers evicted her from a reality television show for her "racist bullying" of a top Bollywood star which sparked international fury.
Viewers voted to kick out Jade Goody, who had taunted Indian actress Shilpa Shetty in the "Celebrity Big Brother" programme, where famous faces live shut off from the world under 24-hour television scrutiny.
Friday's eviction left Goody, 25, a former "Big Brother" contestant, facing the consequences of her actions and press villification for her treatment of film star Shetty.
With the atmosphere highly charged, television executives banned the crowds which usually gather outside the "Big Brother" house on the northern edge of London, following every eviction.
Goody received a massive 82 percent of the total public votes cast in a straight two-way choice that had been between her and Shetty, 31, but Channel 4 television declined to disclose how many people voted.
"In all honesty I'm disgusted with myself," said Goody, after emerging from the household to silence and learning about the full scale of the row she had caused.
British newspapers roundly savaged Goody for her antics in the house.
The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily and once a champion of Goody, said "incredible as it may seem, last night's vote was the most important in Britain since the last general election.
"It became a referendum on whether our nation, with the eyes of the world on us, was prepared to back a home-grown yob over a dignified Indian actress."
The programme makers were also mauled for not letting Goody face the full force of public anger.
Newspapers said Goody had been tipped off about the storm beyond the garden fence and been well-briefed on how to go about salvaging her public image.
"I look like a complete and utter nasty small person -- the sort of person I don't like myself," she said in the post-eviction interview on Channel Four television after viewing footage.
"I am not a racist and I sincerely, with my hand on my heart, apologise to anyone I have offended out there," she said.
Shetty's family hailed the eviction of the Bollywood star's chief tormentor as a triumph of "good over evil."
"This vote has shown that goodness always prevails, like in Bollywood films," a spokesman for Shetty and her family said.
"This vote was not about just one contestant facing eviction. It was a straightforward contest between Shilpa and Jade, between good and bad," Dale Bhagwagar told AFP.
In a subsequent statement, Shetty's mother hailed the vote.
"She (Goody) deserved to be evicted. She behaved in such a despicable manner," Shilpa's mother Sunanda Shetty told the private Times Now network.
The man tipped to be Britain's next prime minister, finance minister Gordon Brown, was again drawn into the row during a visit to a film studio in Mumbai on the final day of his Indian tour, urging viewers to vote for "tolerance."
Along with former Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd and one-time pop star Jo O'Meara, Goody has reduced Shetty to tears on numerous occasions.
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.
Mobile phone company Carphone Warehouse on Thursday suspended its multi-million-pound sponsorship of the show.
Lloyd's sponsorship deal with an insurance firm has been ditched, while retailer the Perfume Shop has stopped stocking Goody's fragrance.
Around 40,000 people have complained to media watchdog Ofcom and police have launched an investigation into allegations of racism.
There have been some attempts at reconciliation. Shetty has withdrawn her claim of racism, while Goody and Lloyd have apologised for their remarks.
Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has disputed whether comments were racist, instead saying it was "unquestionably a good thing that the programme has raised these issues and provoked such a debate."
Viewing figures Friday peaked at 8.8 million people and averaged 7.8 million -- marginally better than Channel Four's top figures for 2006.
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.