Oh, lordy! Boy George O'Dowd is in trouble again.
A clearly annoyed Manhattan judge issued a warrant today for the arrest of Boy George after the former Culture Club singer failed to appear in court, but the judge stayed the warrant pending his return at a later hearing.
Judge Anthony Ferrara said he will hold a hearing on June 26 on whether the singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, violated the terms of his conditional discharge after pleading guilty in March to third-degree false reporting of an incident.
The charge followed his false report of a burglary at his Lower Manhattan apartment where police found cocaine.
Under his plea deal, O'Dowd was to enter a drug program in England and do five days of community service in Manhattan. He was also supposed to pay a $US1,000 ($A1,349) fine and a $US160 surcharge, and avoid arrest for any reason during the next six months.
The singer was scheduled to appear today to explain why he wanted to change the terms of his sentence.
Ferrara angrily complained that O'Dowd had not paid the fine or the surcharge and had never reported to begin fulfilling the community service requirement.
"I put people in jail who don't pay fines," the judge told O'Dowd's lawyer, Louis Freeman.
"Why shouldn't I do that?
"I think it's important that Mr O'Dowd be treated like any other defendant," he said.
Freeman said he had told O'Dowd, who was in England, that he did not have to appear today but that he should be ready to fly to New York on a moment's notice. He said the singer would be present for his next court date.
Ferrara said that on June 26 he would issue a final order as to what O'Dowd must do.
Freedman said that O'Dowd hoped to do something more worthwhile than sweeping New York City's streets.
"There's nothing wrong with that if that's part of his punishment," Freeman said, "but it will turn into a media circus and the press will be following him every day".
Freeman said the singer intended to comply with the terms of his conditional discharge, but he hoped to work with an HIV/AIDS charity while taking part in an outpatient drug treatment program for himself.
Ferrara ridiculed Freeman's community service proposals, which included helping teenagers make a public service announcement, holding a fashion and makeup workshop, serving as a DJ at an HIV/AIDS benefit and doing telephone outreach.
Ferrara said he understood the objection to street cleaning.
"It's humiliation," he said.
AP
george michael is in trouble again. couldn't happen to a more deserving ponce! After all the shit he has given Boy George for being 'too gay' over the years I'd be happy to see his career destroyed. There is, IMO, absolutely no excuse for public sex of this kind in this day and age. As Boy so wisely observed-- 'can't he use a computer'?
why do banks take 48 hours to process a payment TO a credit card while they can deduct money instantaneously?
can anybody explain the difference between an incursion and an invasion? if a tank rolled into my neighborhood i think the semantics would become secondary.
who made that hotel what it was! Pretty soon the only people staying there will be rich boring tourists or Britney Spears.
I am My Own Wife is headed my way in the original production. This review from the .au press has a major spoiler- be careful.
Still depressed at the idea that CBGBs will be gone forever. An example of what happens when one becomes a parody of one's self.
Second Life is an overwhelmingly expansive and conceptually dense virtual world allegedly taking the world by storm. It's worth a look. I suspect that I'm a bit too old to grasp the paradigm.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 in Carrie's World, Commentary, Cultural History, Current Affairs, Dee Dee, Dumb People, George O'Dowd, Heroes & Icons, Hotel Chelsea, In the Blogosphere, nobody can hear you scream., mailbag, Manhattanophilia, Paranoia, Trash Celebrities | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)