Boy George giggles his way through biphobia

When it comes to attitudes to bi people, some gay people can be the worst.

Boy George has performed a public service by reminding us of this.

That tweet - that saying "I'm bisexual" is a lie - is bad enough.

The way George has dealt with being called on this is worse.

He's fallen back on a "how can I be biphobic when I'm so fabulous defence" and to chunter on about "steaming white rice" when anyone tries to call him on it.

Anyone who nods along with George, though, gets a thumbs up:

My point completely but that doesn't mean some people are not genuinely bi. https://t.co/h3zFRzltwA

— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) January 2, 2017

Oh, gee, thanks, Mr Boy, for allowing that some people might not be lying about being bi - although perhaps even that is undermined by doing it while agreeing with this:

@BoyGeorge I agree, in my experience people use bi when they aren't ready to fully come out.

— Jonny (@tinwhiteduke) January 2, 2017

This, it seems, was "George's point" all along. Some people might identify as bi as their sexual identity pulses through towards something else; but the reverse can be true - back in the 80s, the lack of bi role models and dismissiveness of bisexuality made it easier to identify as gay as a halfway house to being able to identify as bi. I know this from experience, not as a theory.

I understand that George thought he was making a joke; I also think when George insists he doesn't believe he's biphobic that he's probably genuine. Like a lot of gay people, he thinks that simply allowing bi people on his bus is enough.

But it's not. If you're first thought when someone tells you they're bi is that they're only half-baked, a person whose souffle has yet to rise, you've got a problem.

We wouldn't let someone telling gay-attacking jokes get away by calling "bantz." We shouldn't let Boy George off with the same defence, no matter how much glitter he throws behind it.

Tom Jones now telling Elvis anecdotes down the Job Centre

Tom "Bloody" Jones isn't a happy man. He was fully expecting to continue his judging role on The Voice - which effectively means sitting in a chair for fifteen weeks, occasionally jerking awake to say "Bob Dylan used to deliver my Ocado order in the 60s", before slumping back into a slumber. He'd even been practising trying to watch Will I Am's "antics" without allowing his face to betray the complete depth of his contempt.

But it's not to be. The BBC have decided that Sir Tom needn't bother himself this year. His place on the panel has gone to Boy George. (The now-absent Rita Ora has been replaced by Paloma Faith, which will have the same result you'd have got if Ora had spent the summer break doing a correspondence course.)

Tom isn't happy, though. The Telegraph hears his pain:

Writing on his official Facebook and Twitter pages, Sir Tom revealed he had not chosen to leave of his own accord, accusing executives of lacking basic respect.

He said: "In good faith, as part of the team, I’d put the time in my schedule to be involved in Series 5, as I’ve done for the last 4 years. I’ve supported the show and the BBC since the beginning.

"I was told yesterday, with no consultation or conversation of any kind, that I would not be returning.

Having been through plenty of transformations throughout the years, I support and admire creative change. But being informed, as a matter of duty and respect, is an important part of creative relationships.

"This sub-standard behaviour from the executives is very disappointing.

"I will always admire the courage of the performers who participate in the show, as well as all the production staff who worked tirelessly to make a great family viewing experience for the audience at home. I wish the show well."

Someone who has been part of The Voice for four years being surprised at something sub-standard happening in the production team really does suggest Tom spent most of the time sleeping, doesn't it?

Boy George never dissed Madonna or Kylie. Not recently, anyway

Tetu, a French magazine, recently carried an interview with Boy George which included a quote from him saying, in effect, that he would never be like Madonna or Kylie, chasing every trend to keep hold of their positions in pop.

He never said anything like it though. And he's getting a cheque to prove it:

Gordon in the morning: A £20k do-it-yourself job

I've got to say; if I'd paid twenty thousand quid for Boy George to sing me a song - whether for charity or not - ...

To show his gratitude, George passed Kate [Moss] the mic so she could sing along.

... I'd not expect to have to sing the bloody song myself.

A day with the Jesuses: Jesus Loves You

Or, when Boy George met E.

The history books record that it was hearing Everything Begins With An E that led Boy George to embrace the then-new dance music, create More Protein records, adopt the pseudonym Angela Dust for writing and Jesus Loves You for recording.

Angela Dust - do you see what he did there? It sounds a bit like, oh, what's the phrase? Oh, yes, "like he's a thirteen year old boy pretending to be doing drugs".

Funnily enough, Bow Down Mister - the big hit-ish hit - doesn't sound half as annoying when viewed from 2011 as it did when it came out. It still doesn't sound great, but it has taken on the sort of warm nostalgia for the declining years of the Radio One Roadshow that The Second Summer Of Love gives off. In other words, it reminds of us a time when we hadn't realised we weren't young anymore.



Jesus Loves You gets a X-Factor of 5.

[Buy: Bow Down Mister]
[Part of A day with the Jesuses]

You like a little Boy George?

To mark ten years since the last ill-starred reunion, and thirty-one years since they started, Boy George is going to grind his teeth through another Culture Club comeback next year.

As, indeed, shall we all.

Is this just a cash-in on the nostalgia market?

Yes, of course it is, but to try and pretend it's not, there's going to be a whole new album. Oh, good.

Boy George hints at possible flirtation with relevance next year

Boy George is hinting that Culture Club might do a reunion next year:

"I think we could do a one-off gig or maybe a small tour," he told BBC 5 live. "It's our 30th anniversary next year so we may do something."

The band briefly reunited in 1998 and staged a 20th anniversary concert in 2002 at London's Royal Albert Hall.

"Last time we re-formed, there was a point to it," the singer - real name George O'Dowd - told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire.

"We'll see," the 48-year-old continued. "It's all about my mood at the time."

I'm not quite sure how the 20th anniversary could have been in 2002 and the 30th in 2011, but I'm sure the maths all adds up. If I were a promoter, though, I'd be wary about booking a tour that hands on the "mood at the time" of O'Dowd, though.

NME understands perspective

What, would you say, is the most important facet of a story about BBC2 making a drama about Boy George's early life?

The NME knows:

Shockwaves NME Awards host to star in BBC Boy George film

He hosted them two years ago, though, didn't he? And Matthew Horne is only playing Jon Moss:

Horne will play Culture Club drummer Jon Moss, who had a relationship with the singer in the 1980s, in the 90-minute film, titled Worried About The Boy.

What? Jon Moss had a relationship during a film? Or was Worried About The Boy Jon Moss' title?

To be honest, I think a film about Moss would be more interesting than yet-another-churning through the Boy George story. But probably be harder to get funding for.

Celebrity Big Brother: Boy George's plea

So, if I've understood this: Boy George is being asked to be allowed to finish the punishment which stops him leaving a house at night, in order to be allowed to be detained in a house all day.

Boy George is out

No, no: Out of prison. He's been let out early for good behaviour; he's tagged and has a curfew to make sure he stays at home.

Although given that the offences of which he was convicted took place at his flat, I'm not quite sure how that's meant to help. It's like telling Lenny The Safe Guy he has to sleep in a vault at his local NatWest, isn't it?

Gordon in the morning: Mrs GaGa's Summer Holiday

Worrying news from Lady GaGa's camp this morning as Gordon suggests she's about to crack:

Lady GaGa goes lala

EXHAUSTED LADY GAGA has been given a month off as record label bosses fear she’s about to burn out.

The double chart-topper’s ferocious work rate — added to her love of a good old tear-up — is taking its toll.

Uh-oh - a woman on the very edge of a breakdown, you say, Gordon?

So it’s still GaGa by name and very nearly GaGa by nature.

The sensitive approach to mental health is one of the things that The Sun is known for, of course.

It's so serious, though, Gordon gets through an entire piece her without mentioning hotpants or bra tops. So, tell us more about this emergency intervention, Gordon:

“Her management have spotted the warning signs and do not want her going off the rails.

“They’ve scrapped all her commitments in August to give her time to get her head straight.”

Oh. So, this story is actually 'woman looks forward to a nice summer holiday in a few months', then?

And it's hard to know exactly who this story reflects worst on:

JAILED Jack Tweed turned tail and ran from the showers in prison — after THREE encounters with naked gay star Boy George.

Probably the person who made it up in the first place.

Boy George: Worth twenty quid of anyone's money

I can't pretend to know very much about forgery - I can't even fake knowing about it - but surely someone who makes a twenty quid note with Boy George in place of The Queen isn't really doing a forgery, more having a slightly laboured laugh?

George goes down

As someone - probably on Popbitch - observed: he's not a man without convictions any more.

Boy George has been given a fifteen-month sentence for charges relating to chaining up a bloke in his flat:

Judge Radford said: "Whilst I accept that Mr Carlsen's physical injuries were not serious or permanent, in my view there can be no doubt that your premeditated callous and humiliating handcuffing and detention of Mr Carlsen shocked, degraded and traumatised him.

"He was deprived of his liberty and human dignity without warning or proper explanation to him of its purpose, length or purported justification."
Family and friends react outside the courtroom
The singer's family and friends were angry at the sentence

He also ordered the singer, who had decided not to testify, to pay £5,000 costs.

Still, at least Boy George spared his mother, apparently.

Boy George: Keeping mum, keeping Mum happy

The puzzling decision of Boy George to not offer the obviously plausible explanation for what the escort was doing chained to his wall has been explained by his brother, David. I say "explained":

His brother David said the troubled star told him: “I know the likelihood is I’m going to prison, but I couldn’t do it for mum’s sake. She’s dying.

“The only reason I didn’t give evidence was for her. She’s been through too much in her life already.”

While that's touching-shading-into-heartbreaking, it doesn't actually make any sense, does it? It implies that George could have cleared up the whole silly business, but the explanation would have been more upsetting to his mother than the idea that her son is a vindictive idiot with anger issues who chains male escorts to his walls and who is going to prison as a result. It's hard to imagine a proof of innocence that could look worse than that, surely?

George looking at jail time

And so Boy George's story takes another step towards the tragic: He's been found guilty of false imprisonment over that male escort he handcuffed and tried to keep in his house.

[Talking to police, George said]: "If I was going to beat [Auden Carlsen] up, I would have got my friend to beat him up with me, if I was going to do anything that vile."

It turned out that the Metropolitan Police didn't quite feel convinced by 'I would have got someone else to beat him' line of defence.

It sounds like George should have actually thought about asking the friend to see to fixing the handcuffs properly, given that when George did it, his victim was able to free himself and prance off down the street.

George's explanation in court for the imprisonment was that he had reason to believe Carlsen had been hacking into his computer which somehow gave him the right to manacle a man in his bedroom didn't, surprisingly, hold up to much in the way of cold, hard, legal light:

During the trial his defence barrister, Adrian Waterman QC, told the jury in his closing statement that the argument was whether Carlsen had stolen photographs and "in doing that, messed up George O'Dowd's computer".

He added that the suggestion that the singer had concocted the story about computer tampering because Carlsen refused to have sex with O'Dowd during their first meeting was "entire fantasy or a lie".

It's not entirely clear whether George was supposing the mercy of the court would be unleashed at the suggestion of stolen pictures, or at the idea of having to rebuild his desktop and re-install XP. Whichever it was, it didn't work, and the judge has warned George that he's seriously considering a custodial sentence.

George returns, again

Here comes Boy George, again, embarking on a tour of the regional press to push his new, in-reduced-circumstances tour, chatting to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. It's a long way from New Sounds New Styles, isn't it?

George, it seems, doesn't really want local papers rummaging in his life:

And he recently announced he had secretly relapsed back into old habits but was now clean again. Asked when he turned the corner, he bridles. "I'm off them. Absolutely off. Off completely."

The tabloids said you had been clean for about six months this time? "No, I've been clean longer than that." How long then? "Mind your own business, hahaha! All you need to know is that I'm clean. The time is irrelevant."

Well, up to a point, George. If you've been clean for, say, four months or five months, it doesn't matter a great deal. If you've been clean for somewhere between 'since breakfast' and 'about half a week', the timescale does have a significance.

George is convinced that he has put his past behind him:

"I'm not a road sweeper, I'm not a drug addict, I'm a musician."

Unfortunately, George, you're perceived as being all three. And not so much musician these days, either. When even the local papers are more interested in your addictions than Karma Chameleon, you're facing a massive task to shift that perception.

[Thanks to Michael M for the tip]

This interview is over

Not getting enough respect, part one: Boy George cut short an interview when he was asked, not unreasonably, if Culture Club split because he loved the drugs more than the band:

[Smooth Radio presenter Tony] Lyman tells CMU Music, "We were doing the interview via a studio link and I thought we'd got off to a good start. Boy George was giving some very honest answers. But then the air went dead, never a good thing in radio, and I realised he'd gone."

Apparently George didn't think it was worth it to plug his new dancing bear show on Living TV.

That? Oh, that's the sound of the swing states turning red

Hey - here's a way to ensure that Obama gets elected: why not get Boy George to record a song about how Yes We Can make it to the promised land? Oh, and also throw in some references to Amy Winehouse as well. Because, really, who running for President wouldn't want Boy George to pop up supporting him while suggesting that, effectively, Obama and Winehouse are pretty much the same deal?



Although, to be fair, the tune is pretty sharp.

Pete Burns will be delighted: Boy George follows his lead

In these times, news of the formerly rich in serious financial difficulties isn't published first in the London Gazette. Oh, no: the first sign of financial stress of the famous is signing up for a fly on the wall series on Living TV. Like what Boy George has done.

Also tucked into the winter schedule for the channel which has come far - oh, so far - since it used a nice cup of tea as its logo - is this:

Living is also airing Pop Goes the Band, in which bands including Bucks Fizz, Dollar, Cleopatra, 911, Shakatak and Visage, will be "restored to their former glory through strenuous fitness regimes, painful cosmetic and in some cases, major plastic surgery".

Those last three words turn a bit of harmless fun into something a bit sinister. And we'd have thought for a couple of those bands - notably Bucks Fizz and Dollar - it'd be less about teeth whitening and more about relationship counselling wouldn't it.

Still, it'll be interesting to watch 911 trying to reclaim their glory days - although how Living will recreate that Thursday and Friday back in 1997 isn't clear. And making Cleopatra look like they did when they were successful - and about twelve years old - is going to be a challenge, too.

Gordon in the morning: Middle-aged man puts on weight; old man chase youth

We're at a loss to understand why Gordon is so excited about a photo of Boy George with a bit of a belly, so much so he put it in the newspaper.

A 47 year-old man is not as slim as he was when he was 22? I'm surprised Newsnight isn't organising some sort of debate.

Perhaps it was just Gordon felt his jokes were so great, it was worth the effort of running them:

BOY GEORGE looks like he’s turned into a Karma Cha-MEAL-eon as he lumbers along a city street.

No, not that then.

Elsewhere, with journalists covering the supposed Ron Wood making a fool of himself story - he's fallen for a teenager and off the wagon - Gordon is left to deliver a think piece about it:

WHEN RONNIE WOOD falls off the wagon, it’s time to get a hard-hat on.

He is famous for his boozing and when he hits the bottle, it isn’t in half measures.

The last time Ron was back on his favourite tipple, vodka — and lots of it — he ended up under a table in a posh restaurant biting KATE MOSS' ankles.

Ha ha! Alcoholism is funny, isn't it?

Gordon remembers that he's meant to be being responsible:

It’s sad, though, to see a man who had a happy family risk it all with his desire to go on month-long benders.

Gordon's attitude to heavy drinking is bemusing. Is heavy drinking sad? Then why do you give a prize for heavy drinking, Gordon? Can you simultaneously celebrate and berate people for drinking too much?

When he finally sobers up, as he has done before, he will realise the blunder he has made by upsetting his stunning, loyal wife Jo.

If he doesn’t, he can forget the planned Faces comeback and winning his family back.

It's not clear here if Gordon is suggesting he might not sober up, or realise his mistake. Because not patching things up with his wife would threaten the family, but not the reunion, surely?