Shilpa Shetty may have forgiven and forgotten Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd - her housemates in the
Celebrity Big Brother
House who made racist comments about her on air in January – but the UK’s media regulator Ofcon wants a televised apology from Channel 4.
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Accordingly, the channel will broadcast a series of apologies during the next series of
Big Brother
, which airs from Wednesday.
Additionally, Channel 4 will have to publish transcripts of a series of previously unheard and potentially racist conversations that took place within the
Celebrity Big Brother
house.
Ofcom’s adjudication report concluded that Channel 4 breached the broadcasting code after making “serious editorial misjudgements” that were “compounded by a serious failure of its compliance process”.
The row had centred on the alleged bullying of Bollywood actress Shetty by fellow contestants Jade Goody, model Danielle Lloyd and singer Jo O’Meara. Ofcon received a record 45,000-plus complaints from the public about alleged racist comments.
The show’s creator – Endemol – said it accepted Ofcom’s findings and “sincerely regretted the level of offence caused by events in this series”.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell welcomed Ofcom’s decision, as did MP Keith Vaz. Said Vaz: “Andy Duncan (Channel 4 chief executive) should now apologise to Shetty and realise that the contempt that was shown by them during this whole episode, in my view and that of many of the viewers who complained, now merits his resignation.”
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell welcomed Ofcom’s decision, as did MP Keith Vaz. Said Vaz: “Andy Duncan (Channel 4 chief executive) should now apologise to Shetty and realise that the contempt that was shown by them during this whole episode, in my view and that of many of the viewers who complained, now merits his resignation.”
(With inputs from The Guardian)