Shilpa Shetty takes back racism charge

After all the fuss, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has now said that her fight with housemates on Big Brother was not about racism.Shetty speaking on the 24 hour reality TV program retracted her earlier statement and said that her housemates had attacked her due to their own insecurities.However, in an interview, the Ofcom head has said: "Ofcom will not be rushed to make a judgement. We are not going to hold a kangaroo court over the complaints."Meanwhile, Carphone Warehouse, the company which sponsors the reality TV show, has suspended its sponsorship after allegations of racism."Our concern has rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals within the Big Brother house. We are totally against all forms of racism and bullying and indeed this behaviour is entirely at odds with the brand values of The Carphone Warehouse.""We have instructed Channel 4 to remove our sponsorship name and branding with immediate effect," said Charles Dunstone, CEO of The Carphone Warehouse in a statement.'No overt racial abuse'Channel 4, which airs the show, insists there has been "no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour", and there was merely a cultural and class clash between Shilpa and the three British women in the house.However, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been forced to address the issue.The controversy has served Channel 4 well. Overnight, the ratings of the reality show have gone through the roof, with 5.2 million viewers tuning in to watch the show. This is up almost two million from Monday.The show involves a group of people living in a house together, isolated from the outside world. One by one, they are evicted, based on viewers' voting. The last one left is the winner.Support pours inMeanwhile, support continues to gather for the actress both within and outside the UK.Britain's Chancellor Gordon Brown, who is expected to take over as Prime Minister, said that with more than 20,000 complaints, the British public has given a strong response to racism. "I think the British public has sent a very strong message, wouldn't have 20,000 members of the public polling in to complain and every national newspaper in our own country, making it clear what they think," said Brown, who is currently in India."What has happened is a particular television show with a particular format which I think allows for bad behaviour to be televised has given rise to this issue. But I join Chancellor Brown in condemning any form of racism - overt or subtle," said P Chidambaram, Finance Minister.Meanwhile, a resident of London believes that most of the comments made can be seen as racist from an outsider's point of view. "But if you look at it from a UK perspective, a lot of people are brought up this way. They don't mean to be racist, it's just in a way a working class mentality. I believe when you start talking about her accent and making fun of that, then it can be classed as racism," he said. Shilpa and one of her most vocal opponents on the show, Jade Goody, have been put up for eviction and will face the vote on Friday.But with bookies backing the Indian actress, Miss Shetty may just stay to fight another day.