Carphone Warehouse has suspended its sponsorship of British reality show Celebrity Big Brotherafter the row over alleged racism on the programme.
Shilpa Shetty. Photo: REUTERS/Adeel Halim
The company ordered Channel 4 to remove its name and branding from the programme with immediate effect.
The move came after last night's episode saw an escalation of the alleged racist bullying directed at Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
Carphone Warehouse chief executive Charles Dunstone said in a statement: "Our concern has rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals within the Big Brother house.
"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," he said.
The latest row between Shetty and reality TV star Jade Goody erupted when the pair clashed over Oxo cubes. Goody told the actress: "Go back to the slums".
After the spat, actress Cleo Rocos told Shetty: "I don't think there's anything racist in it." Shetty replied: "It is, I'm telling you."
But Channel 4 insisted there had been "no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour".
Earlier, protesters burned effigies of the show's organisers on the streets of India as British politicians denounced the treatment of Shetty.
The number of complaints to Ofcom, Britain's communications regulator, approached 20,000, and the Indian government has indicated that it plans to raise the issue with Britain.
Channel 4 revealed figures showing the row has boosted the number of viewers for Celebrity Big Brother, which had been on the decline since its opening night. The main highlights programme averaged 4.5 million viewers yesterday, up from 3.5 million on Monday.
PA