The treatment of the Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty by her fellow housemates Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara elicited 54,000 complaints and led to effigies being burnt on the streets of India. As the row escalated, Gordon Brown was forced to defend Britain as "a country of fairness and tolerance".
The media regulator Ofcom ruled that Channel 4 had breached the broadcasting code and Channel 4 was also forced to air three apologies ahead of the start of the current series of Big Brother.
Channel 4 said yesterday Celebrity Big Brother would be rested as part of a programming shake-up to refresh the network and reaffirm its public service broadcasting credentials.
Channel 4 has also faced unprecedented scrutiny and criticism, along with other TV networks, after shows including Richard & Judy and Deal Or No Deal were drawn into the call TV scandal.
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