THE THREE WISE MEN

Interview from GEORGE in BOYZ MAGAZINE number 956 page 32

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I'm not upset at BB ban: Boy George

Former Culture Club singer Boy George is "not overly upset" after a High Court judge ruled he could not appear on Celebrity Big Brother.

The 48-year-old singer and DJ - real name George O'Dowd - is currently subject to Probation Service conditions after being released on licence from a jail sentence for assaulting and falsely imprisoning a rent boy.

He wanted the High Court to quash the decision by the Probation Service banning him from the Channel 4 programme - for which he was offered £400,000 to take part in.

But Mr Justice Bean dismissed his application, ruling: "I consider that right-thinking members of the public would take the view that an offender serving the non-custodial part of a sentence of imprisonment should not be allowed to take part in a high profile, controversial television production, promoting his status as a celebrity and with considerable financial gain."

Boy George said later he was not "overly upset" about not being able to enter Celebrity Big Brother, which begins on January 3.

He said the decision seemed "slightly unfair".

In a statement, he said: "To be honest, I'm not overly upset about not entering Celebrity Big Brother. I was always in two minds about whether it was the right move and, now that the decision has been made by a judge in the High Court, I am more than happy to accept it. Perhaps the judge is a good fairy?

"I'm simply looking forward to April 15 when I will finally be off licence and free to work and travel and pay my taxes.

"Celebrity Big Brother would have been a good earner as I was being offered £400,000 and my ability to work has been restricted for the past two years. But there's much more to life than money and other opportunities will arise.

"The decision seems slightly unfair because I am pretty close to the end of my sentence and I feel I have done everything and more to adhere to the rules of my sentence."

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2009/12/23/i-m-not-upset-at-bb-ban-boy-george-91466-25461098/

Boy George fails in Big Brother appeal

AFP – 23th december 2009 -

LONDON — Eighties pop star Boy George failed in his High Court bid to overturn a probation order preventing him from taking part in next year's Celebrity Big Brother show, it was announced Wednesday.

The former Culture Club singer, real name George O'Dowd, is currently free on licence after serving four months of a 15-month prison sentence for assaulting Norwegian Audun Carlsen at his London home.

Mr Justice Bean, who is expected to give reasons for rejecting the appeal later in the day, ignored the impassioned pleas of O'Dowd, who blamed drug abuse for his past behaviour.

"I became addicted to cocaine many years ago," the singer said. "This caused serious damage to my personal and professional life and got me into trouble with the police in the UK and elsewhere.

"When under the influence of drugs I behaved in an appalling way towards Audun Carlsen. I deeply regret my conduct on that occasion," he added.

The Karma Chameleon performer, 48, was set to earn 200,000 pounds for his appearance in Channel Four's reality show which starts on January 3.

Other celebrities tipped to appear in the house include former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, 1990s rapper MC Hammer and Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss

This picture is taken from  George's Twiteer

SHAMED eighties pop star Boy George begged a judge to let him take part in Celebrity Big Brother today insisting he felt "deep regret" over his violent assault on a rent boy.

The singer has been offered a whopping £200,000 to appear on the final series of the Channel 4 reality show next month but is still tagged and under curfew from the 15-month sentence he received last January when found guilty of assaulting and falsely imprisoning Norwegian rent boy Audun Carlsen, 29, at his flat in Shoreditch, London.

The assault saw George shackle Carlsen to the wall and whip him with a chain.

After his probation officers turned down his initial request, George today took the battle to a high court - costing the tax payer thousands.

In a witness statement read by his lawyer, George, 48, said: "I became addicted to cocaine many years ago. This caused serious damage to my personal and professional life and got me into trouble with the police in the UK and elsewhere.

"When under the influence of drugs I behaved in an appalling way towards Audun Carlsen. I deeply regret my conduct on that occasion."

He also revealed how Channel 4 chiefs had approached him "on a number of occasions" in previous years and the chance to appear on the final series of the show was a "longstanding offer".

But lawyers for the National Probation Service said his appearance and the "lucrative sum of money" could undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.

They also argued that it would pose "a high level of risk" to their reputation.

But George's lawyer Alison MacDonald argued that the decision to bar him was "disproportionate" and claimed George has "managed to stop using drugs", and added: "There is no dispute at all that this was a serious offence in terms of the impact on the victim. He was rightly punished with a sentence of imprisonment and he has never suggested that was not wholly deserved.

"The claimant is a musician, internationally renowned. He wants to rebuild his career and reputation."

MacDonald also argued that the National Probation Service were worried about negative publicity if the singer went on the show while on licence.

She went on to state George, whose licence conditions are due to end next April, was "not under supervision in order to be punished" and said his appearance on the show would help him "resettle in the community".

She added: "Successful rehabilitation for the claimant would be regaining his public profile. Whether it is now or after April the claimant will seek to rebuild his reputation in the unusual circumstances of being a musician and celebrity."

However, the probation service argued George's appearance could have a negative affect on his victim Carlsen.

But bosses at Channel 4 have promised to edit out any references to the incident.

George will find out tomorrow morning whether he will be allowed to take part in the show.

Other stars tipped to appear on the programme include MC Hammer, Heidi Fleiss and Pamela Anderson. The show starts on January 3.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/big_brother/2781841/Ive-been-a-bad-Boy-George.html#ixzz0aRPWXYAs

Boy George in court battle to appear on Celebrity Big Brother

Boy George has reportedly been offered £200,000 to appear on Celebrity Big Brother. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

One might have thought, having served four months in prison this year, that Boy George would have had enough of being incarcerated with a bunch of undesirables.

Instead, the singer will tomorrow become the first person to go to court to fight for the right to be locked up inside the Big Brother house, after his probation officers sought to block him taking up a lucrative offer to appear on the programme next month.

Channel 4 have confirmed the musician, whose real name is George O'Dowd, has been invited to appear on the final series of Celebrity Big Brother, which starts on 3 January, reportedly for a fee of £200,000. But as O'Dowd is on licence after a conviction for falsely imprisoning a male escort in April 2007, the probation service has refused his request.

The high court will judge tomorrow morning whether the nation should be sentenced to up to three weeks of uninterrupted footage of the 48-year-old former drug addict, alongside other inmates rumoured to include Pamela Anderson, MC Hammer and the Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.

Fleiss also has some experience of captivity, having served 21 months for tax evasion in the late 1990s.

O'Dowd has been free on licence since May this year, after serving part of a 15-month sentence for handcuffing a Norwegian man to a wall in his east London home. He was initially given strict curfew conditions and wore an electronic tag, though he no longer does so.

The programme's producers are understood to have offered to accommodate his special circumstances, such as permitting him to be visited in the house by his probation officer, but London Probation declined his request.

The service declined to comment in detail, but is expected to argue in court that permitting O'Dowd to appear would undermine confidence in the judicial service; it is also thought to have concerns on behalf of his victim.

The former Culture Club singer was also fined and sentenced to community service in New York in 2006 for falsely reporting a burglary.

O'Dowd's inclusion in the programme would represent another controversy for the celebrity version of the decade-old franchise, which has never recovered from the racism storm involving Jade Goody and the Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty in 2007.

After a break the following year, Celebrity Big Brother returned in 2009 but averaged 3.3million viewers, down from a peak of more than 8 million. In August Channel 4 announced that the celebrity and original formats of the show were being axed after 2010.

Channel 4 has boasted that the seventh and final series of the celebrity spin-off version of Big Brother would be "no holiday camp", promising the celebrities "some of the most unpredictable weeks of their lives" – likely to include, as in previous years, a succession of tasks requiring mild humiliation and a lot of sitting around.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/dec/21/boy-george-celebrity-big-brother

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