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Jade 'being treated for depression'
By This is London 23.01.07
Goody appeared on GMTV this morning admitting her behaviour on the Channel 4 show had been 'nasty and ugly'
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Jade Goody is being treated by doctors for "shock and depression" as the Celebrity Big Brother race row rumbles on.
Her agent issued an angry statement claiming Goody is now a victim of bullying herself at the hands of the media.
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The 25-year-old is facing career meltdown over her treatment of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.
The statement from agent John Noel reads: "Jade is completely distraught and is receiving medical attention for shock and depression.
"She has publicly apologised to Shilpa and to the country on national television. Jade has had the courage to say sorry, to face her critics and to try to make amends.
"That's a lot more than most would do, but certain factions in the media will not be happy without blood.
"What sort of message does that send out? Aren't they doing to Jade what Jade is accused of doing to Shilpa?
"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that we have problems with racism and bullying in this country when we are not prepared to listen to people who say and want to address their issues."
Goody appeared on GMTV this morning admitting her behaviour on the Channel 4 show had been "nasty and ugly".
The damage limitation exercise will continue tomorrow when she appears on Five show The Wright Stuff. The programme is hosted by Matthew Wright who, like Davina McCall, is also represented by John Noel Management.
Publicist Max Clifford believes Goody faces an "uphill struggle" to restore her reputation and must convince the public she is genuine sorry for her behaviour.
"I think she has genuinely upset a lot of people. There is a very strong sense of anger and anguish among members of the public," he said.
"The question is whether she can turn it around and convince people that she was being manipulated by the programme, which was undoubtedly the case.
"That is what she has got to achieve if she is going to continue the career that she has had. Can she do it? Yes, but it is going to be very difficult."
Mr Clifford said that the public was divided over her sincerity, with many people regarding her recent TV appearances as "a desperate publicity stunt" controlled and manipulated by a team of PR advisors.
Consultant clinical psychologist Ron Bracey said he believed Goody's career may not suffer long-term damage but may actually benefit from the storm of protest surrounding her.
Like the row involving supermodel Kate Moss when she was pictured apparently taking drugs, Goody is likely to suffer a short-term moral backlash but would ultimately make money out of the controversy, he said.
He said Goody was "hard, tough and resilient" and he did not believe that she was on the brink of suicide.
Reports that the 25-year-old mother-of-two is on suicide watch were part of a ploy by her publicists to win back public sympathy, he said.
In the interviews she has done since being evicted from the house, Mr Bracey said she appeared to be "quite calm and collected".
"That's not someone who is on the edge. That is someone who knows how to manipulate the media," he said.
"She will have agents working in the background maximising the potential from this. Like Kate Moss, she will get the moral backlash and then earn twice as much money. Afterwards their infamy becomes attractive."
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Reader views (11)
I think that Jade is okay, and that what she said was not at all racist - what I do think though is the media had sprung things out of control and have made this up and believing it people have followed on and thought she is when she is not, if she was that bad she would not donate all her proceeds of the show to charity.
- Daryl Beech, Kirriemuir, Angus, 22/03/2007 21:04
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Stephen - Jade was a Dental nurse before she entered Big Brother the first time. She has also been to college for a beauty course.
Terry - did you actually see the programme? Shilpa is manipulative, and sly.
Sharon and Nicola, at last 2 people who have minds of their own well done, and I agree with both of you.
- E Sullivan, London, 23/01/2007 15:09
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I find this whole debacle ridiculous. I doubt very much that Jade's comments were racist. I think it was simply a case of Jade and Shilpa didn't like each other. It happens - no matter the skin colour. If you are branding Jade a racist then do the same for Shilpa - did she not sit mocking Ian's Welsh accent and laughing when he tried to teach her a song? How is this different?! I think it's disgusting that Jade is being branded a pariah. We women know what happens if you get one person you don't like - in the house where everything is magnified it was no different and certainly not racist. The worst culprit was Danielle and NOT Jade.
- Nicola, Barnsley, United Kingdom, 23/01/2007 14:37
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Speaking as a person from an ethnic minority I find the Jade/racism debacle quite amusing. You have the media putting her down for something that happens daily in real life. I think people have seen a bit of themselves in Jade and have reacted negatively to the exposure of truth in British society today. I mean what next... will they compare this to the Stephen Lawrence report? It's accusation of racism gone overboard and the constant attention to it proves that there is prejudice in everyone, whether they are black, white, indian, etc.
- Sharon, South London, England, 23/01/2007 13:30
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Speaking as an ordinary old white person who owned all of Shilpa's available movies on DVD long before this controversy began, I was astonished that anyone would look at her with any racial prejudice. This Jane Goody person must be abysmally ignorant. There is no way she represents British society. Every country has its share of idiots, and I really don't think Shilpa could anticipate what she was getting into.
- Terry Ellison, Conyers, GA, USA, 23/01/2007 12:53
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I think it is a disgrace that she is on our screens. She should have done the interview with Davina and then disappeared from the media forever. Trust the British media to put another shameful excuse of a citizen in the spotlight, I am sick of all these famous people with no morals.
Juniper - best of luck.
- Rachel, London, 23/01/2007 12:15
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She's only shocked because she won't be earning any more money from her 'celebrity'.
The boyfriend will probably lose interest, she'll have to sell the house, and go back to working in Kwik Save.
No wonder she's upset. The Press built her up, and the Press will destroy her. Without an education or career to fall back on, life will suddenly look quite tough.
But, frankly, does anyone give a damn? Will the world miss her?
- Stephen, Guildford, 23/01/2007 12:03
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We are being saturated with interveiws of Jade on TV and she is on the cover of OK magazine and it's only Tuesday. So she's fighting hard to save her empire. These are not the actions of a depressed person after all she didn't look very depressed last week.
- Val, London, 23/01/2007 11:56
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I agree with you, Juniper. There are many people suffering in silence in truely difficult circumstances. Jade is not one of them!
- Steve R, London, UK, 23/01/2007 11:03
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Juniper, Southampton, no you're not being mean. I agree with you.
- Val, London, 23/01/2007 10:48
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As someone who is genuinely receiving treatment for shock and depression, and struggling to get my life back on track, I am (not) impressed at Jade's ability to continue to make television appearances to talk about how shocked and depressed she is!
She has family, money and a good lifestyle built on very little hard work - more than a great deal of us have. Since being found out, we seem to have had nothing but the "poor little me" act. Grow up girl - there are lots of people out there who are struggling, or who have lost loved ones and are trying to cope with real tragedy.
Sorry to sound so mean.
- Juniper, Southampton, 23/01/2007 10:09
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