RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Boy George has parted ways with the longtime manager of his independent record label, BGP (Boy George Presents), after claiming that he no longer sees eye-to-eye with Tony Pontius.
In a post on X on Friday (July 31), George wrote , “In Buddhism we understand that every action comes with a consequence. Due to my decision to stand up for my Jewish friends I am losing a few people from my life. Today I parted company with Tony Pontius who has run my record label BGP for a number of years.”
At press time a spokesperson for BGP had not returned Billboard ‘s request for confirmation on the reported split with Pontius.
George said he wanted to widely release his new pro-Israel track, “We Will Dance Again,” but claimed that Pontius was “unequivocal” in saying “‘I want nothing to do with this song,’ and I responded, ‘ok, we are done.'”
The track has already created other tumult in George’s professional life. Last week the 65-year-old Culture Club singer born George Alan O’Dowd announced that he would no longer be appearing as King Herod in the upcoming London revival of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar , just days after releasing the controversial “We Will Dance Again,” which George has said was created with the help of AI.
The song, which shares a title with a 2024 documentary about the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack at the Nova Music festival in Israel that sparked the devastating Israel-Gaza war, features the lyrics, “You say genocide, I say war/ When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for.” It also has emotionally charged lines about the violence committed that day against the young Israelis at the festival, with George singing, “You never mention Oct. 7/ Young girls raped against trees/ Murdered brutally/ For the crime of dancing.”
The song was released on X, Instagram and Threads, but at press time had not yet been shared on major streaming services, though it is now available on Bandcamp as well; in a video announcing the latter , George said he will be rerecording the song again himself soon.
George’s longtime manager, Paul “PK” Kemlsey, announced last week that his client would be exiting the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium, saying the decision was made with “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.”
George has not yet commented on the specific reason for his leave-taking from the show. While Kemlsey also did not cite a specific reason for George dropping out of the musical, he did allude to the possible distraction created by the divisive song. “George has never been afraid to stand by his personal convictions, and I have always respected him for that,” Kemsley said. “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.”
On Monday morning (Aug. 3), George posted an undated, throwback video from his 1980s Culture Club heyday in which he sports a shirt with a Jewish star and Hebrew writing on it and proclaims that year the one in which hatred and division will go away for good. “I’m afraid this is not a new conversation,” George captioned the clip. “I grew up in the 70s and I felt it then as I feel it now.”
In the 45-second clip, George predicts, “I think this year is going to be a year for culture … I think it’s going to be a big anti-racialism sort of thing in this country. It’s been really racist the past few months and I think it’s doing to die this summer … I think it will be outdated to hate Black people and hate Jews and all that sort of thing. For the past, well, centuries anyway, it’s been the thing to hate Jewish businessmen, to hate Pakistani businessmen to hate Blacks … anything that isn’t sort of English.”
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