Sunday, January 21, 2007

EXCLUSIVE: Jade Goody admits "I was racist. I am a bully."

[Note from the editor of this website: you can finally comment on individual NOTW stories via an official NOTW website (hooray!) and you can comment on this individual story here if you wish.]

DISGRACED Celebrity Big Brother star Jade Goody sensationally confessed: "Shilpa WAS a victim of racism and bullying."

And today we print the hard-hitting interview all Britain has waited for after voting out the foul-mouthed housemate by a landslide on Friday night.

The News of the World grilled the 25-year-old with the tough questions TV host Davina McCall failed to pose about her treatment of Bollywood beauty Shilpa Shetty after Jade's carefully stage-managed exit from the hit Channel 4 reality show.

Jade will get no payment for this article. Her £50,000 fee will go to charity—along with every penny of her £50,000 Big Brother fee. The £100,000 total will be divided between good causes nominated by Shilpa and Jade.

In the most emotional and important interview of Jade's life—which was punctuated by frequent tearful outbursts— we asked:

ARE YOU A RACIST?

No, I'm not a racist, but I accept I made racist comments. I don't see people for the colour that they are, or where they come from.

I'm mixed race myself and I speak to everyone of every colour, background and nationality. I don't care about where people are from.

AT THE HEIGHT OF THE TENSION SHILPA TOLD CLEO SHE THOUGHT YOU WERE RACIST. WAS SHE THE VICTIM OF RACISM AND BULLYING?

She was a victim of bullying and racism, yes. I can understand why she would have said that.

Disgusted

HOW DO YOU JUSTIFY THE COMMENTS YOU MADE TO SHILPA?

I'm not going to justify my actions because they were wrong. I was shocked to see how I behaved. I was shocked and disgusted at myself.

I don't know why I said those things to her or why those words came into my head. I wasn't thinking in my head a nasty thought.

I'm not making excuses because I know that it's wrong. I now know that it's offensive.

Maybe I'm just really stupid and nasty at heart. But I really don't think I am.

YOU SAID ABOUT SHILPA: "SHE MAKES ME FEEL SICK, SHE MAKES MY SKIN CRAWL."

I can now see how that's been interpreted, that people think I hate her, but I promise to God that if I was a racist I wouldn't have kissed her, cuddled her or ate her food.

DURING THE OXO CUBE ROW YOU SHOUTED AT SHILPA: "YOU'RE A F***ING LOSER AND A LIAR, YOU NEED A DAY IN THE SLUMS!"

I said: "You are a f***ing loser and a liar!" and I did say that.

I know that Shilpa doesn't live in the slums, because I took the time to get to know her. The slums is a word that Shilpa would have told me. I can't justify my actions for that. It wasn't meant as a racist comment.

YOU TOLD HER: "SHUT THE F*** UP! WHO THE F*** ARE YOU? YOU AREN'T SOME PRINCESS IN NEVERLAND, YOU'RE A NORMAL HOUSEMATE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE."

I remember saying that and it's wrong, but it's not a racial comment.

In my rage of anger that's why I said she wasn't a Princess and not a God, she's a normal f***ing person.

YOU ALSO REFERRED TO HER AS "SHILPA F***AWALLAH, SHILPA DURUPA, SHILPA POPPADOM".

I remember saying Shilpa F*** something.

DOES IT SHOCK YOU THAT YOU SAID THOSE THINGS?

My anger when I watched it on the screen shocked me. I didn't like it. I didn't know that my presence could be so intimidating or bullying.

I don't want that, but I don't know any other way to argue.

I've never blamed my past for anything I've done, but I don't know any other way. My only way to argue is to shout—to get louder and louder so that I can't hear what they're saying.

It's the way I am. I didn't know it was a problem until I watched it. I don't want people to be scared of me, or think that I'm intimidating.

YOU CAN SEE WHY SHILPA F***AWALLAH IS RACIST?

It is. Because I now know that in Shilpa's religion anything to do with swearing or the "f" word is seen as hurtful and racist. For me it's normal to say effing this and effing that. I didn't think that these words would cause offence.

DO YOU ACCEPT THAT THOSE COMMENTS AND COMMENTS LIKE IT ARE RACIST?

I hold my hand up to my comments and to people reading them or hearing them and thinking I'm a racist. I can understand why those words would look racist because I didn't get on particularly well with Shilpa. It's offensive to her and her culture. I didn't think poppadom was a racist word. I now know that things that I may not think are racist can actually be racist. It's my own fault for not knowing enough about other people's cultures.

HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

I feel sh*t. I hate myself right now. The first time I was on Big Brother it was like a holiday camp but I've now got people out there who look up to me. I didn't want to get evicted for the wrong reasons. Evict me because I'm loud or annoying, but not because I'm a racist, because I'm not.

YOU GANGED UP WITH JO AND DANIELLE AGAINST SHILPA.

You sometimes click with people more than others. I clicked with Danielle and Jo because they are the same age, we live in the same area and we had things in common.

ALL THREE OF YOU MADE RACIST COMMENTS. DANIELLE SAID ABOUT SHILPA WHEN SHE HAD BLEACH ON HER FACE: "SHE WANTS TO BE WHITE" AND "SHE'S A DOG."

I wasn't there. I would have said: "You can't say that." Shilpa isn't ugly, she's a beautiful person. She had bleach on her face and I said to her: "Is it true that in India people do want to lighten their skin?"

IF YOU HAD HEARD DANIELLE'S COMMENTS WOULD YOU HAVE INTERVENED?

I would have because that's wrong, Shilpa's not a dog. I wasn't part of it. That's obviously a racist comment.

WHEN YOU WERE IN BED WITH JACK HE SAID: "I DON'T LIKE HER, IN FACT I HATE HER. SHE CAME INTO THIS HOUSE A C***."

Then I didn't see any wrong in it. My reaction now is that this is all wrong. Yes I'm responsible, yes I've said things that can be interpreted as being a racist and a bully, but I don't like that person. I won't let that happen again. I said poppadom and I said f*** in anger but I never said Shilpa wanted to be white or that she should go back to her own country.

AFTER THE OXO CUBE ROW DANIELLE SAID: "THAT WAS F***ING FANTASTIC. I LOVED IT, I THINK SHE SHOULD F*** OFF HOME"—A BLATANTLY RACIST COMMENT.

Yes it is, but that didn't come from me. I didn't say anything as I was too angry.

YOU WERE THERE WHEN JO THEN SAID: "THAT'S MADE ME FEEL BETTER. I MUST SAY, IT'S MADE MY DAY."

I wasn't taking any notice of what they were saying. I was so angry at the time. I was angry with me.

DANIELLE THEN SAID ABOUT SHILPA: "SHE CAN'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH PROPERLY."

I feel ashamed about that. I'm ashamed about everything.

DO YOU AGREE THAT YOU, DANNIELLE AND JO HAVE MADE RACIST COMMENTS?

Yes they're wrong.

DID YOU BULLY SHILPA?

Looking at it, yes. I didn't think that my presence was that strong and that people were copying me. I didn't think that I was bullying.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY CONTROL OVER THIS INTERVIEW?

None whatsoever. I want to face the toughest questions possible. Everyone knows the News of the World is a tough paper and won't shirk from asking what people want to know. I'm happy to put myself through this so people can see what I did was wrong and I'm truly sorry.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

if jade had had one argument with shilps then maybe i may not be so against her we all say bad things at times but jade and her family and cronies in the house tormented shilpa so much that i was afraid of shilpas safety. i am glad that big brother did not stop it though as jade now has no defence.she has always bullied people in most shows she has done mr waller because he is fat and sophie because she was prettier than her. she is a bad example isnt racism bullying some one of a different race or colour

Anonymous said...

Jade Goody is common as muck, she cannot speak English properly. She is a bully and a racist and should not get away with her unnaceptable behaviour in the Big Brother House. She is an embarassment to the UK and so are her 2 friends, Joe and Danielle. I hope the people of India do not tar us all with the same brush as them.