Entertainment News

[SpursFan1902]

His lastest issue is that his voice is changing...good way to kill a career! LOL!

[faceless]

George Michael: Inside the troubled star's life of smoking, sex and soaps
By Julie McCaffrey
13/08/2010
mirror.co.uk

It was all George Michael could do to take his mind off the indignity of being charged with drug and driving offences yesterday. Back from a North London police station, he settled into a butter-soft leather sofa in his basement living room, his beloved labrador, Hippy, at his feet. Then he flicked the remote control at his giant flatscreen TV to watch EastEnders. His personal assistant knew not to disturb him for the next 30 minutes. She knows the times of his favourite shows, which at the moment include Big Brother, and guards the slots in his daily diary as if they were top-level board meetings.

The glass tables are adorned with spectacular displays of aromatic roses and lilies. Expensive Diptyque scented candles are lit on every shelf. And yet the unmistakable smell of cannabis still hangs in the room – inevitably, given he continues to smoke around eight joints a day. Such is the strange life of one of the world’s greatest singer-songwriters.

His record company hotly anticipates future material from a star who has sold 100 million records. But George, 47, usually prefers to watch television soaps than compose songs. He signed a multi-million pound deal to write a revealing autobiography. But George would not be budged by publishers nagging about deadlines. Due last autumn, it has been put back because he insists he is not ready to write. Smashing his £80,000 Range Rover into a Snappy Snaps shop in Hampstead Heath last month will see him in court in 10 days.

Those close to him hope he will get out of bed to appear in the dock. One member of his trusted team says: “George is a genius but every genius is flawed. His stubbornness is breathtaking. We all told him, time and time again, to use a chauffeur for safety. His cousin Alex Georgiou was on hand 24 hours a day to drive him. But no, George wanted to do things his way and drive himself. The Snappy Snaps crash was inevitable, yet avoidable. George won’t be told. He’ll swear on live radio once he’s been warned not to. He smoked weed on TV and confessed his love of cottaging to journalists. It has his PR people tearing their hair out.”

Those who have followed George’s career know he simply does not take unwanted advice. Even as a young pop upstart he urged fans not to buy his single because he was annoyed at a record company deal. George will not be bossed around. The source adds: “After years of hiding who he really was, George has no time for pretence and will do exactly what he wants – and that is not usually very much.”

Friends and family, who still call the star by his unglamorous school nickname Yog, hope this latest brush with the law will shock him into changing his lazy, hedonistic ways. His 3.30am crash after returning from the Gay Pride parade is, it turns out, the seventh time he has been at the centre of a police probe into his driving in six years. “He knows he could have killed someone,” says an insider. “We just hope it might be a bit of a wake-up call.” But George has ignored all previous appeals from concerned friends such as Sir Elton John and Bono to quit smoking weed. He refuses to accept it as a reason behind his lethargy.

George believes the drug and his idle lifestyle helped preserve the voice and creativity behind hits such as Careless Whisper and Faith. He says: “I’ve been smoking 10 years, but I’m still a tenor. I’ve not used it as regularly as a professional usually uses his voice. It must be a case of don’t use it that much and it stays. Some of the falsetto may have gone, but my voice in general sounds pretty much the same as ever. Maybe that’s a product of not having trekked around the world.” His eight-a-day joint habit is a reduction from 25 a few years back. He admits: “I was probably more stoned in those days. I was existing on a balance of Starbucks and weed.”

Two years ago George apologised for “screwing up” after it emerged he was arrested in a public lavatory for possession of drugs, thought to include cannabis and crack cocaine. Cottaging is another habit George, who lives with his partner of 13 years Kenny Goss, cannot seem to break or does not want to give up. He and art gallery owner Kenny wear commitment rings but have an open relationship. George defends cruising for gay sex in parks and lavatories as better than frequenting nightclubs to meet men off their heads on ecstasy.

Ever since he “outed” himself in 1998 when arrested by undercover police officers for engaging in lewd conduct in a Los Angeles loo, George has refused to conform to a clean-living lie to appease his public relations people. A confidante says: “He’s honest to a fault. How could he not be after the LA toilet incident? That changed everything and made him much more open about a lot of things in his life. He now jokes that he’s like a guest on the Jeremy Kyle show. You like watching him because he has so many problems he makes you feel far more fortunate. He just shrugs it off. After his lover Anselmo Feleppa died of Aids in 1993, he thought he’d never recover. When his mum Lesley died of cancer in 1997, it was the worst thing to happen to him. Once you’ve reached the very bottom, confronted your worst fears and suffered the worst loss imaginable, nothing else life throws seems too bad.”

Friends fear that earning more money, adoration and awards than he dared dream means George has lost the drive that saw him propelled from geek singer to global star. But many fear his problems go even deeper – that he is no longer capable of coming up with those hit records. While he feels cannabis helps get creative juices flowing, pals believe his habit prevents the hard work that saw him make some of the best records of the 80s and 90s, first with Andrew Ridgeley in Wham! and then as a solo artist. Now, facing three months in jail if convicted, George is trying to stay cheerful with his hobbies – smoking, sex and soaps.

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Sitting about watching soaps and Big Brother while smoking joints is strange? I must be some kind of weirdo then!

[faceless]

Happy Mondays' Bez Jailed For Attack On Ex
August 25, 2010
Elizabeth Scott,
Sky News Online

Former Happy Mondays star Bez has been jailed for four weeks after assaulting his ex-girlfriend during a row over money. The star, real name Mark Berry, accused the mother of his two-year-old son of stealing money from him before flying into a rage and throttling her.

Bez was originally given a community order at Manchester Magistrates court and asked to pay £450 in costs. But he told the chair of the magistrates' bench he would not obey the sentence, and protested his innocence. "I'm not doing it. Bothered. I'm going to appeal and take this to a real court," he said. In response, Ms Cash told the former Celebrity Big Brother winner he was going to jail for one month. Bez, who represented himself, shouted, "Victory is in my grasp" as he was handcuffed and taken to the cells.

The argument between the former couple broke out at their flat in Manchester in May when Bez could not find the takings from a concert the night before. Ms Ward is the lead singer in Bez's band Domino Bones. She previously told the court he was "looking insane" as he squeezed her neck and kicked down a door. Bez claimed he was acting in self-defence but was convicted of the assault earlier this month. He was also convicted of using unlawful violence to gain entry into their home.

Following the sentence, he instructed a solicitor who was in court for another case to make a bail application on his behalf. He was also issued with a restraining order preventing his from contacting his former partner for two years.

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"Victory is in my grasp" as he was handcuffed and taken to the cells......

[faceless]

George Michael jailed for eight weeks for smashing his 4x4 into shop while high on cannabis
14th September 2010

Troubled superstar George Michael was finally jailed today for the latest in a string of driving offences committed while he was high on cannabis. The former Wham! star, whose drug-taking is notorious, was handed an eight-week sentence for smashing his Range Rover into a photography shop in July. The 47-year-old sighed as the jail term was announced by District Judge John Perkins at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in north London this afternoon. Judge Perkins reprimanded the singer for failing to seek help to counter his 'addiction' to cannabis and putting the public at risk.

Inside court, his long-term boyfriend Kenny Goss put his head in his hands in despair and later left the building wiping his eyes. Michael will serve four weeks in prison and spend the rest on licence. He was also banned from driving for five years, fined £1,250 and ordered to pay £100 in costs. One fan sobbed in the public gallery as the multi-millionaire, who was wearing a smart grey suit, black tie and Ray Ban sunglasses, was taken down to the cells.

District Judge Perkins told him he had taken a 'dangerous and unpredictable mix' of prescription drugs and cannabis before driving in the early hours of July 4. He said: 'It does not appear that you took proper steps to deal with what is clearly an addiction to cannabis. That's a mistake which puts you and, on this occasion, the public at risk.'

Today's sentence is the culmination of a series of clashes with the law for the singer, who has been open about his use of cannabis. He was also banned from driving for two years and sentenced to 100 hours of community service after a similar crash in October 2006. And he has been cautioned for drugs possession, questioned over several minor accidents and famously fined for 'engaging in a lewd act' in a California public toilet.

Fans had screamed his name and tried to break through the security barriers as he arrived at the court in north London today. He had already been warned he could face jail and was led inside by four private bodyguards after emerging from the black car with tinted windows. After the sentencing, fans outside the building openly wept.

District Judge Perkins told the court he had taken into account how Michael had entered rehab since the accident to help anxiety, depression and insomnia, which had led him to depend on prescription drugs. He said: 'I accept entirely that you have shown remorse for the offence, that you are ashamed of it, that you admitted it.' But he added that a jail term was inevitable because of Michael's previous conviction and said it was 'with regret' that he could find no mitigation to imposing one.

Mukul Chawla QC, for the singer, told the court he felt 'profound shame and horror' at repeating the same offence he committed in 2006. 'He acknowledges his actions of driving had the effect of causing other road users to be in danger and that stark fact is something about which he is greatly ashamed,' he said. 'It is no exaggeration to describe him as a very kind, considerate and loyal man, constantly concerned for the plight of others. The prospect he could have put anyone else in danger is an appalling prospect to him.' He said Michael had tried to turn his life around since the incident and had started writing songs again. 'For the first time in many years he has started writing again. His creativity, so long hampered by his drug dependence, is re-emerging.' He had also personally paid for repairs at the Snappy Snaps shop in Hampstead near his home, his lawyer said.

The star, whose real name is Georgios Panayiotou, had admitted possessing class B drugs and driving while unfit through drugs at a hearing last month. He was found slumped at the wheel of his 4x4 at around 4am on July 4 after it ploughed into the shop. Michael had been on his way home from a Gay Pride parade and two police officers found him apparently unconscious behind the wheel.

Prosecutor Penny Fergusson told the court last month that Michael appeared to try to get the car back in gear when he was roused by one officer banging on his window. She said: 'Mr Michael looked at the officer with his eyes wide open and the officers could see his pupils were dilated. They opened the door and could see he was dripping with sweat.' The court heard Michael did not initially respond to police and when asked what his name was, replied: 'George.'

Ms Fergusson said Michael was confused and when told he had crashed into a shop, added: 'No I didn't. I didn't crash into anything.' When he got out of the car the officers found he was soaked with sweat, breathing heavily and had to be held up. Michael was handcuffed, arrested and driven back to Hampstead police station where he failed a test to find whether he was fit to drive. He had not been drinking but was found to be carrying two cannabis cigarettes. Tests on a sample of his blood showed he had chemicals linked to the drug in his system. The prosecutor added: 'He could not remember the route he took or crashing his car. He just remembers the police officer knocking at his window.' Michael admitted smoking a 'small quantity' of cannabis about 10pm the previous evening and said he also took a newly-prescribed sedative to help him sleep.

THE SINGER'S RAP SHEET

SEPTEMBER 2010
Crashed Range Rover into shop in Hampstead in the early hours on his way back from the Gay Pride parade. Arrested and tested for drugs. JAILED

AUGUST 2009
Arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs after crashing into the back of a lorry on the A34 in Berkshire. Breathalysed and held for almost five hours. NO ACTION

SEPTEMBER 2008
Held for possession of Class A and Class C drug after being caught by police in a public toilet on Hampstead Heath, a notorious meeting place for gay men.
CAUTIONED

OCTOBER 2006
Found slumped at the wheel of his Mercedes in north London. Pleaded guilty to driving while unfit. Banned for two years and handed 100 hours' community service. Also cautioned for possession of cannabis. BAN, COMMUNITY SERVICE

APRIL 2006
Allegedly crashed his Mercedes into three parked cars near his north London home. Interviewed under caution but not charged. NO ACTION

FEBRUARY 2006
Arrested for possession of a Class C drug after being found asleep at the wheel at Hyde Park Corner. Later said it was 'my own stupid fault as usual'.
CAUTIONED

1998
Arrested by U.S. police for 'engaging in a lewd act' in a public toilet in California.
FINE, COMMUNITY SERVICE

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I wonder why they're focussing on the weed rather than the prescription pills? Surely not to make it seem more DISGUSTING!?

[Aja]

OMG Heather Trott is gonna be ooooooooooooo upset

[faceless]

haha yeah, I can imagine her heckling the cops...

[SpursFan1902]

Too bad they film so far in advance. It would be cool to see that as a minor story line.

[faceless]

Randy Quaid - 8 actors 'whacked'

[eefanincan]

Well, why no doubt some of what he says is true..... blame Google?????

[faceless]

Listen to the audio - he might be clean, but he sounds really disjointed. And as for his 'fire breathing fists'? Keep that kind of crap for anonymous forums, man!

[eefanincan]

He might be clean, but I don't think there's any rehab for being an ass.

[eefanincan]

---

I honestly didn't know what news story to post here --- there are SO many about him right now!

This guy just doesn't get it ---- I would guess that he's bipolar in a real manic phase and obviously paranoid and narcissistic. So while he might be technically clean, he's far from well. I hope his family can get some sort of conservatorship over him, like Britney Spears family did.

[luke]

i hope if i ever go crazy its with a couple of porn stars in tow

[faceless]

Woo-Woooo! There goes the crazy train...

[pirtybirdy]

I love following Charlie Sheen and the new crap that comes out of his mouth. It's hilarious. I know it's not funny to his family and his co-workers, but for pure entertainment, this is good shit! lol