Shilpa Shetty wasn’t arrested in India and questioned at the Mumbai airport five months after her controversial forced kisses from Richard Gere on stage at an HIV/AIDS awareness event. Shilpa’s representative has said the reports of her being detained and questioned for that incident, deemed obscene by a court in India and punishable by a fine and up to three months in jail, were false.

They said the whole thing was misconstrued and that she just had to go into a side room to find her paperwork in order to let people in line get through. She wasn’t arrested at all.

It sounds like spin to me, but it could be true:

Yesterday the Press Association reported that the acctress was in tears after being detained at Mumbai Airport by immigration officials on her way to the opening of the Miss Bollywood musical in Berlin.

At the time her Indian spokesman, Dale Bhagwagar, said: “She called me in the middle of the night and was in tears.”

However now Shilpa’s UK spokeswoman Teji Singh has denied those claims.

She said: “Every time Shilpa leaves the country she has to show her paperwork, because of the Richard Gere thing.

“There was absolutely no detention, no arrest whatsoever. She was rummaging through to get her paperwork and just stepped aside to a side room so she wouldn’t block the queues.

“She wasn’t crying. She was bunged up with the flu and she was only in there for eight to 15 minutes.”

[From The Sun]

Yesterday JayBird reported that Richard Gere apologized for that kiss just recently, and that he had the support of the majority of the Indian legal community. Many lawyers and legal experts in India said the charge of obscenity was outrageous and was just done by a judge in Jaipur for publicity.

Shetty is the UK Big Brother contestant who won the contest after Jade Goody used racial epithets against her, causing a huge scandal. It seems there’s a lot of scandals around Shetty, and they’re only increasing her name recognition and career opportunities. She’s not doing anything wrong, though, and hopefully she didn’t get accosted at the airport.

Shilpa Shetty is shown on 2/5/07 at the UK premiere of Music and Lyrics, thanks to PRPhotos.

Remember back in April when Richard Gere caused that HUGE controversy in India after he kissed Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty at an HIV/AIDS awareness summit? Well he’s finally apologized. I’m not saying he should or shouldn’t have, but if he was going to, I would have thought he would have done it a bit sooner than five months later. At first Gere was pretty pissy about the whole thing and refused to apologize, telling Jon Steward, “”There is a very small, right-wing, very conservative political party in India, and they are the moral police in India and they do this kind of thing quite often.” But now, for whatever reason, he’s singing a new tune.

“Richard Gere tried to quell the storm over a public kiss he gave a Bollywood star at an AIDS awareness event, apologizing Friday for any offense. Gere’s embrace and kiss of actress Shilpa Shetty sparked several noisy demonstrations by hard-line Hindu groups and a flurry of legal complaints, which ended with a judge in the northwestern city of Jaipur issuing an arrest warrant for the two stars for violating obscenity laws.

“‘What is most important to me is that my intentions as an HIV/AIDS advocate be made clear, and that my friends in India understand that it has never been, nor could it ever be, my intention to offend you,’ Gere said in statement issued by the Heroes Project, an organization the 57-year-old actor co-founded to combat AIDS in India. ‘If that has happened, of course it is easy for me to offer a sincere apology,’ he said.

“The embrace, in front of about 4,000 truckers, was a failed parody of a move from Gere’s film ‘Shall We Dance,’ and ‘a naive misread of Indian customs,’ he said. Gere said he was confident the issue would be sorted out. ‘I don’t know that anyone has actually gone to jail, it has to go through a process. It goes to a reputable court, and they throw it out,’ he said on the TV show.

[From the Associated Press]

According to Indian law, Gere and Shetty could face up to three months in prison and/or a fine, if found guilty of public obscenity. He’s been a big supporter of various HIV/AIDS organizations in India, along with having a long friendship with the Dalai Lama, who has his headquarters in the Indian city of Dharmasala. It seems like most of the legal community in India are rather embarrassed by the scandal, and think the judge who issued warrants for Gere and Shetty should be censured.

“On Friday, Gere won support from lawyers and legal experts in India, who slammed the Jaipur court ruling. ‘The order is ridiculous. Even if this hugging and kissing was a bit vulgar, it does not amount to obscenity,’ India’s former attorney general Soli Sorabjee told The Associated Press. Sorabjee said the judge should not have issued an arrest warrant without hearing from Gere and Shetty. ‘They are just seeking publicity,’ he said. Another senior lawyer called the order ‘an act of judicial indecency. This is only for cheap publicity and the magistrate and lawyer should be restrained,’ Dushyant Dave told the Times of India newspaper.”

[From the Washington Post]

I try really hard to be respectful of other cultures and customs, even when I don’t understand them. So I don’t want to say that Gere should or shouldn’t have done what he did, or that Indians should have reacted in a certain way. I’m a big “when in Rome” type. But I think that the response from several members of the Indian legal community makes it pretty clear that they think the reaction to this has been a bit backwards. Gere also expressed remorse for the way that the incident has affected Shetty’s reputation and career. It’s pretty clear that he’s generally a good guy (gerbil rights incidents aside) and genuinely cares for the Indian people. I hope they cut him a break, and he keeps his lips to himself from now on.

Picture Note by Jaybird: Here’s a video of the incident. Thanks to Seriously? OMG! WTF.

In the story so Big they named a Brother after it … the international hubbub around this year’s Big Brother UK is moving onto its triumphalist tidying up phase. Taking the “Real World” template to new highs, or do I mean lows, the eventual race and class throwdown had an impact far in excess of the usual ratings bump. Prime Ministers, Columnists and Germaine Greers worldwide got in on the action … with a healthy dose of the sort of crazed over-coverage that the British tabloids have raised, or do I mean lowered, to an artform. A hysterical artform with highly amusing puns …

Quick recap for those of you who might have missed the teacup tempest :

The three celebrities accused of tormenting her on the show—Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd–have spent the past few days giving tearful interviews and explaining their side of the story.

Shetty was called a “dog” on the programme and a few of the housemates referred to her as “the Indian” saying “She should f*** off home.”

However, Shilpa is now looking at the brighter side of life. According to The Mirror she has been approached to write a book, appearing in UK films and a comedy show on BBC television.

The actress said: “I’d love to do a cookery show called: ‘If Shilpa Can. Anyone Can’” Turning to her love life, Shetty, who still lives with her parents, told the paper: “I’m single and I’m ready to mingle.”

Now Shetty … who sure can rhyme like a Cockney… and whose personal charm has a lot to do with the outpouring of public support is scheduled to go to the House of Commons, meet Tony Blair and the Queen. Ohhh and she won Big Brother as well …

She’s also in talks for books, TV, and movies etc. etc. etc. Satire and real life are dancing awfully close to each other these days – how are we gonna write funny about these things when they are proving that in some career boosting televisual way – that racism is the single girl’s new best friend?

Although for the full and final collapse you can’t really beat this quote from the producer Ronnie Screwala (not a made up name!)–

According to sources in London, the actor’s office has been getting offers for modelling assignments, films, and an endorsement of a Shilpa Shetty line of clothing and jewellery. “Shilpa has almost become an internationally recognised face against racism. Her celebrity status in the UK has certainly gone a lot higher and it will have an impact on her career here as well,” says producer Ronnie Screwala.

Backlash is of course mere minutes away … The Mirror is the first one off that news cycle block. It’s guarunteed to get up folks’ noses.

A TEAM of servants waits on Shilpa at home in Mumbai – including a hairdresser, a makeup artist, a secretary, a personal trainer, chauffeurs and a “spot boy” who tends to her every need.

She said: “My spot boy is my help wherever I am. He runs errands, makes tea for me and serves my guests. And he’d hold an umbrella for me if it got too sunny.

“A servant wakes me up in the morning and delivers my breakfast, and says something like: ‘Madam, it’s time to wake.’