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CARPHONEWarehouse, which 'suspended' its Euro4.5m sponsorship of Channel 4's Big Brother after days of racist taunts directed at Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty (right) prompted more than 38,000 complaints to Britain's communications regulator Ofcom alleging racism and sparked a full-blown diplomatic crisis between India and the UK, denied to the Sunday Tribune on Friday that it had a contract to sponsor Big Brother 8 this summer.
Through spokesperson Fionnuala Kavanagh the company said it was "currently in negotiations with Channel 4 regarding the summer sponsorship" but that "they are not tied to this summer".
This contradicts UK media reports. The Guardian website reported late Friday that Carphone Warehouse remains the of"cial sponsor of the show and that the mobile retailer has not sought any reimbursement from Channel 4 of its sponsorship. Carphone Warehouse "is still contracted for the "agship BB8 series this summer", the report added.
In a statement on Thursday, Carphone Warehose CEO Charles Dunstone said: "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. As a result we feel that as long as this continues we are unable to associate our brand with the programme."
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YOU ARE HERE: 11 November 2007 / tribune.ie / 2007 / 01 / 21
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