Celeb Apologizes For "Big Brother" Racism
The British reality show "Big Brother" caused a huge uproar when one of the housemates was voted off the show after being accused of racism. But now the accused celebrity, Jade Goody, says she feels terrible about the way she behaved.
"I have two children, I am a mom of two and the way I behaved is wrong and I don't want my children to go to school and — I don't want that," she said on TV.
Goody owes her fame to a previous appearance on the show. Goody became embroiled in a fight with Indian actress Shilpa Shetty when she unleashed a diatribe on Shetty that many said had racist overtones. Goody was evicted by a massive audience vote.
Newspapers vilified her and politicians were forced to renounce the show. But Goody expressed contrition and is trying to redeem herself in the eyes of the public.
Even though Goody is contrite, many British celebrity watchers say Goody's celebrity is over.
"People are thoroughly disgusted and are asking — never put her into the magazine again, we don't want to read another word about her," the editor of Now magazine, Jan Ennis, told The Early Show correspondent Mark Phillips. "I have never seen an outpouring of such hatred. It's surprised me."
The program's producers and the managers of the channel that broadcasts the show have been under severe public pressure. They have been accused of exploiting the issue to boost the ratings of the show and have broken the program's own rules by letting the housemates know how what happens in the house is playing with the public. For her part, Shetty said she didn't feel she was a victim of racism.
"Put this as a statement on my side, if you can, that I don't feel that there was any racial discrimination happening from Jade's end," Shetty said.
The worst thing that can happen to a TV show has now happened: advertisers have pulled out. The question of whether "Big Brother" has become too small-minded to survive persists. Nevertheless, the race card has done wonders for ratings.
The board of directors that carries the show is meeting to discuss the program and the thinking is that, despite its ratings, it may be more trouble than it's worth.
The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen said nothing like this has happened in the United States version of "Big Brother," which she hosts, but some people have been accused of being misogynist.