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Big Brother’s zero tolerance

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Well, I bet 'Intelligent' Emily isn't feeling quite so intelligent now, is she? She was ejected from the Big Brother house in the early hours of this morning after using the word 'n****r' in conversation with Charley and Nicky. "Are you pushing it out you n*****r?"

Emily has gone for the old "I have loads of black friends so I can't possibly be racist" argument, but has nevertheless apologised for what she says was "a joke". Channel 4 didn't find it quite so funny, though, and, flexing their new 'zero tolerance of racism' muscle, have kicked her out. Big Blogger


 

It almost defies belief that anybody could be so stupid as to use the word 'nigger' in the Big Brother house. Yet that's what Emily Parr, 19, did at 8.30pm on Wednesday night. Seven hours later, she was gone. The n-word is a much more direct and offensive term of racist abuse than anything Jade Goody said about Shilpa Shetty.

Even though Shilpagate netted 40,000 complaints and an Ofcom censure for Channel 4, they've gone ahead and broadcast Parr's comments in full. The key is in the context. Real people do say offensive things, and Ofcom's broadcasting code lets TV channels transmit them - as long as the context is made sufficiently clear that 'generally accepted standards' are upheld. Telegraph Blogs


Of course, it's quite obvious that Emily isn't a massive racist, but really quite staggeringly thick. Of course, anyone who feels the need to introduce .,

 

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