Drugs allegations put Boy George's career in doubt
Boy George faces a battle to save his lavish New York home and career as a top DJ if he is convicted on US drugs charges, a leading lawyer said tonight.
The 44-year-old ex-Culture Club frontman, whose real name is George O’Dowd, has protested his innocence after being charged with possessing cocaine but will effectively be excluded from America if found guilty.
The Gay icon was arrested in the Big Apple yesterday by police responding to a report the singer made of a burglary at his luxury Manhattan home.
It is alleged they found an amount of cocaine near a computer and more of the Class A substance elsewhere in the apartment.
It was understood George was preparing to fly back to London tonight.
Human rights lawyer Mark Stephens said: “Boy George is innocent until proved guilty but if he’s found guilty it could have major implications for him to be allowed into the US. He would effectively be excluded.
“If there’s going to be an exception made it has to be made at a high level - the Attorney General.
“It’s treated on a case by case basis, he would not be able to get a visa to get in. He would have to get permission to be allowed into the country.
“They treat drug convictions very seriously in America.”
George – believed to planning to return to Britain tonight – moved to the United States when his musical Taboo – based on a club night in 1980s’ London - moved to Broadway.
The extravagant performer first caught the public’s imagination in the 1980s when his group Culture Club shot to chart success with the single Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? The classic release Karma Chameleon followed and their album Colour By Numbers sold in huge numbers.
George became a household name around the world and stayed in the headlines with attention-grabbing statements like declaring he preferred a cup of tea to sex.
But he suffered a well-publicised heroin addiction in the 80s, later recovering to pursue a career as a DJ.
George’s former agent Tony Denton said after speaking to the singer’s sister, Siobhan that the star denied the drug was his.
Mr Denton said: “Basically, he did call the police himself. He actually thought somebody was breaking into the apartment.
“They turned up and they searched the apartment and found traces of cocaine on the computer table, which George has said he was not taking and was nothing to do with him.”
Manhattan District Attorney’s office spokeswoman Barbara Thompson said the singer was released after being charged with possession of a controlled substance, allegedly more than an eighth of an ounce (five grams) of cocaine.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
A New York Police Department spokesman said the singer was charged with possessing cocaine and falsely reporting and appeared at a court hearing in New York early today.
The spokesman said police responded to an emergency call made by George at 3.15am (8.15am Irish Time) yesterday.
“The call was about a possible burglary. Police arrived there, and they saw in plain view an amount of cocaine near a computer. They also recovered another, larger, quantity of cocaine at the location,” he said.
George was listed in the police report as a 44-year-old white male, weighing over 14 stone, and 5ft 11ins tall.
Police said there was a woman at the apartment but refused to describe her relationship to George.
Responding to the allegation of the “larger” amount of the drug, Mr Denton said: “I am told, as far as I know from his sister, there was definitely nothing else in that apartment.
“At the end of the day, if there had been anything more than that police would have taken his passport. At the moment, he can go in and out [of the US] as he feels.
“Other people were staying in the flat and people are there frequently, so obviously somebody else is doing it.
“He is going back to court on December 19 and basically he is flying back to London today.”
