The Culture Club star has had feuds with Madonna and George Michael – but says he doesn’t understand why some people aren’t fans
Do You Really Want to Hate Me? asks Boy George.
The Culture Club star says he can’t understand why some people aren’t a fan – insisting he’s not “dislikable”. The singer has had a number of very public feuds over the decades, including with huge stars like George Michael and Madonna. “I am actually shocked when people really just don’t like me and I’m like – but you don’t know me, if you knew me you couldn’t possibly dislike me as I’m not dislikable but there are some people that just roll their eyes,” he opened up to pal Lulu.
Boy George – whose real name is George O’Dowd – has had some very public fall outs. People he’s feuded with include Madonna, former bandmate Jon Moss and reality star Vogue Williams.
He once branded the Material Girl a “hypocrite” for supporting Kabbalah, but later said it was out of jealously and apologised. Moss was George’s former bandmate and ex-boyfriend in the 1980s band Culture Club. Moss was fired in 2018 and sued George and the other band members for lost income. The band settled the case by paying Moss £1.75 million. Vogue Williams once said about George: “He took a personal grudge against me” after he didn’t follow her back on social media.
But he had only love for David Bowie. “I used to send him emails – I’d send these tirades of love and worship, and I’d get a line back,” he said.
The 63-year-old Karma Chameleon singer admits being a diva as an up and coming musician. “Sometimes it’s avoiding that default behaviour – don’t tell me what to do and all that stuff,” he explains. “There was a point in my early career where I used to kick off all the time and have these massive tantrums you know because I think sometimes it felt like I was in charge if I said no and I wasn’t going to do it – and I always did it.”
Appearing on I’m A Celebrity in 2022, Boy George opened up about his criminal past in the jungle. The singer was jailed in 2009 over an attack on Audun Carlsen, after handcuffed the man to a wall during a drug-crazed night. George pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment and has always denied a court claim that he beat Audun with a chain. But he was convicted of assault and false imprisonment and jailed for 15 months.
Boy George topped the charts with new wave group Culture Club in the 80s and continues to perform with the band. He says he dreams of a new career. “I want to learn to act,” he revealed on The Lulu Podcast: Turning Points, out today. “Be a bit more confident, I don’t want to feel those nerves when I’m on stage… and I didn’t realise you could get better at that, you have to practice.”
He is set to feature in new Apple TV+ show Kpopped, alongside Spice Girls Mel B and Emma Bunton. It’s been reported the series, expected to air later this year, will feature a different Western act in each of the eight episodes, collaborating with big names from the world of K-pop to re-imagine one of their biggest hits. Lionel Richie is an executive producer and it will also feature rapper Megan Thee Stallion and Gangnam Style singer Psy.
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