Boy George was seen to lash out (not physically) at a group of teenagers shouting homophobic abuse at him during an incident at the Vodafone Live Music Awards the other night. The singer was being interviewed on camera when the kids started hurling the insults at him, and George retaliated by calling them 'chavs' and telling them to "bend over and be quiet".
He then screamed: "I know I'm a queer. Shut your mouth 'til I knock you out". The teenagers continued to heckle, however, so he made his way over to the glass doors where the young people were standing and threw a champagne glass at the wall. George said afterwards that he was "calm" - adding "otherwise they'd be dead."
Elsewhere in Boy George news, but on the same evening, the singer has said that his Culture Club replacement is awful. Which may not be altogether surprising. As previously reported, the band have reformed, but without George, because he didn't want to do it, and recently held auditions to find a new front-person. The new singer, Sam Butcher, played his first gig back in July.
George said, having seen a video on the band's MySpace page: "I wanted to like it but I couldn't. They're my songs, they're my heart, they're my life. They're my gay love songs about my boyfriend. He can't sing them, can he? To me, the mark of a good band is when someone else can't successfully sing their songs, and he can't sing my songs."
Butcher has since responded: "I wish George well with his new solo career. I am hurt by George's comments but realise George says terrible things about everybody, including Madonna. I am just starting my career so it seems rather cruel to take pot shots at me. Maybe Boy George should keep it for the big boys like Madonna and George Michael."