Britain's 'Big Brother' Bother

LONDON, January 19, 2007 — -- Never before has a reality TV show sparked a diplomatic incident. But Britain's "Celebrity Big Brother" is blazing uncomfortable new ground.

The show features the typical group of C-list celebrities. Among them Jermaine Jackson, Dirk Benedict (of "A Team" fame), a former Miss England who was stripped of her crown for sleeping with one of the judges, and a British woman named whose only claim to fame is that she came in third on a previous edition of "Big Brother."

The show's producers tossed in one genuine star into the mix: Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. She wasn't a household name in England, but she's a Bollywood superstar. Glamorous and beautiful, Shilpa Shetty is (as one newspaper columnist here put it) "a pedigree among the pit bulls."

Her female housemates have ganged up on her. Every night, they make merciless fun of her.

"I think she should f*'ing go home," the Ex-Miss England Danielle Lloyd said. "She doesn't even speak English properly!" Nevermind that Lloyd's Scouse accent is thicker than The Beatles before Ed Sullivan!

Jade Goody, the ex-"Big Brother" contestant, threw a downright tantrum at Shetty last night. "Go back to the slums," she said. "You're not a princess here!"

Shetty shouted back, "Well at least my claim to fame is not this!"

Her enormous fan-base in India is eager to avenge her. Demonstrators in one city burnt "Big Brother" in effigy. The Indian Parliament has lodged a formal complaint with the British government. Apparently outrage over the racist bullying of a Bollywood star is one thing Hindu nationalists and Muslim separatists can agree on.

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, now on a trade mission to India, has faced a barrage of questions. He has reassured Indians, as much as he can, that Britain is a nation of fairness and tolerance. But the incident has reopened painful wounds from India's days as a British colony.

In London too there's been a backlash. On the floor of the House of Commons, no less, Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked his opinion. He begged off, "I have not seen the program in question, so I cannot comment upon it," said Blair. But he went on to reaffirm his opposition to "racism in all its forms."