RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Boy George will no longer be appearing as King Herod in the upcoming London production of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar . The news comes just a few days after the Culture Club singer and solo performer released a controversial, AI-generated track in support of Israel titled “We Will Dance Again.”
George’s manager, Paul “PK” Kemsley, confirmed the news on Instagram, writing , “After careful consideration, I have decided, in my capacity as Boy George’s manager, that he will no longer be appearing in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium. The decision has been made with the utmost respect for the producers, the creative team and the entire company. We are grateful for the professionalism and understanding they have shown throughout and sincerely wish everyone involved every success with the production.”
At press time, neither Kemlsey nor George, 65 (born George Alan O’Dowd) had commented on the specific reason for the singer’s leave-taking from the show.
But in his post, Kemsley apologized to fans who’d bought tickets with the hopes of seeing the “Karma Chameleon” singer on stage, saying, “We also recognise that many people purchased tickets in the hope of seeing George perform. To those fans, we offer our sincere apologies for the disappointment this decision may cause, and we are deeply grateful for their continued loyalty and support.”
Kemsley did hint at the potential distraction created by George appearing in the show at a time when his new song is stirring up division. “George has never been afraid to stand by his personal convictions, and I have always respected him for that,” Kemsley wrote. “Equally, I believe it is my responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interests of my artist while also showing respect to others. In this instance, I felt it was right to step aside, allowing the production to remain the focus, while ensuring everyone involved can move forward with mutual respect and goodwill.”
Last week, George released the reggae-spiced “We Will Dance Again,” which shares a title with a 2024 documentary about the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack at the Nova Music festival in Israel that sparked the devastating Israel-Gaza war. George acknowledged in a Threads post that the song was “created using AI. I call it ‘AI for good’. Truthfully, I would struggle to write this with a human!”
The track features the lyrics, “You say genocide, I say war/ When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for” and finds George singing, “You never mention October 7/ Young girls raped against trees/ Murdered brutally/ For the crime of dancing.”
The song was released on X, Instagram and Threads and George appears to be conflicted about the response to it, writing on X on Thursday (July 30), “ It doesn’t matter what I think or what you think . When will you realise you’re doing NOTHING! It’s a fucking joke. I am even falling out with Jewish friends. The madness knows no bounds.”
The envelope-pushing singer continued to stand his ground in subsequent posts on Friday morning (July 31), including one featuring a seemingly AI-generated image of him in his traditional full face of makeup and a small, bushy mustache with the caption, “to quote Groucho Marks I would never want to be part of any club that would have me as a member!”
He followed that up with a longer post in which he wrote, “So many people are calling me and saying I should pipe down and let it blow over and while they mean well I’m afraid it’s not an option. Doubling down works for Donald Trump and we share a birthday with Che Guevara, Alan Carr and Paul O’Grady. What a supergroup that would be. Move over Steps. What is most shocking is the amount of gay folk attacking me but I am smart enough to realise that what you are cannot disguise who you are. No gay person speaks for an entire community and if you support terrorism you can in the words of Divine ‘Take your toolkit and go f–k a garage.'”
While George did not address his stepping down from the musical in his post, he did condemn what he described as a wave of hate he’s received over the song. “Regardless of which side you take, I am disgusted by anyone who posts hatred against anyone but refuses to show their face,” he said. “If you have something powerful to say then you should have the guts to show the world who you are but most, if not all of you, are unwilling to show your faces and the only reason is self interest.”
George, best known for his flamboyant stage attire and such Culture Club hits as “Karma Chameleon” (No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100), “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” (No. 2) and “Time (Clock of the Heart)” (No. 2), is no stranger to the stage. He appeared as performance artist Leigh Bowery in the autobiographical London music Taboo , which chronicled the early 1980s New Romantic music era he was part of. The singer also wrote the lyrics for the show and appeared in the 2003 Broadway production, for which he earned a Tony nomination for best original score.
The revival of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar is slated to run on London’s West End through Sept. 5 and star a rotating cast of King Herods , including Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julian Clary, Layton Williams and Richard Armitage, whose run is scheduled to last through Aug. 15; George was slated to take on the starring role of Herod from Aug. 3-15.
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