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» George Michael completes community service «
Associated Press, 21 December 1998 |
| BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- George Michael has completed 80 hours of community service as part of his no-contest plea to lewd conduct in a park restroom. Municipal Court Judge Charles Rubin warned the singer's lawyer during a hearing Monday that Michael is under a court order to stay out of Will Rogers Park for the duration of his probation, about 17 more months. "Make sure he is reinformed of that," Rubin said after Brad Barnholtz gave the judge proof that Michael completed his community service with a youth leadership program and paid $910 in fines. He also participated in five, one-hour counselling sessions. Michael, 35, was arrested April 7 by an undercover police officer in a restroom at the park across from the Beverly Hills Hotel. He acknowledged he was gay after the incident. |
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» George Michael delivering meals «
Associated Press, 24 November 1998 |
| WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) -- George Michael was ordered to let his fingers do the walking to fulfill 80 hours of court-ordered community service for a lewd behavior arrest. The British pop star showed up at Project Angel Food on Monday, the day he was supposed to start delivering 1,000 meals a day to people with AIDS to work off the community service. But last week, Municipal Court Judge Charles Rubin ordered the singer to instead telephone schools and children's centers to encourage kids to do charity work. Michael thinks the judge made the switch because of his new video for the song "Outside," in which the singer mocks his April 7 arrest for lewd behavior in a Beverly Hills park. He pleaded no contest to the charge. "In all likelihood, I have prompted Judge Rubin's sudden change of heart by my own actions. I've talked openly about police entrapment and in my latest video made light of recent events," said Michael, wearing a cook's apron. The judge did not return a call seeking comment Monday. |
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» George Michael to deliver meals for service «
Associated Press, 20 November 1998 |
| LOS ANGELES (AP) -- George Michael will deliver meals to people with AIDS to fulfill a community service sentence handed down after he pleaded no contest to committing a lewd act. The British pop star is to serve the sentence next month. "It's a worthwhile cause ... but I don't know his motivation behind it," Josephine Green, a spokeswoman for the singer, said Thursday from London. Michael was arrested April 7 by an undercover police officer at a Beverly Hills park. The singer was fined $810, ordered to perform 80 hours of community service and warned that any future lewd acts would land him in jail. |
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» George Michael officially charged «
Associated Press, 16 April 1998 |
| BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Pop star George Michael was charged Thursday with lewd conduct after his arrest last week in a park bathroom. The 34-year-old British-born heartthrob, whose hits include "I Want Your Sex" and "Faith," was alone when an undercover officer witnessed the act, police said. Police have not said what he is alleged to have done. The standard penalty for a first-time offender is one to two years' probation, a $250 fine or community service. In an interview last week with CNN, Michael said that he is gay and that his arrest, in an area known as a meeting spot for gay men, brought that fact to public light in an unfortunate way. "I want people to know that I feel stupid and I feel reckless and weak for having allowed my sexuality to be exposed this way, but I don't feel any shame whatsoever," he said. |
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» George Michael speaks out for first time since arrest «
Associated Press, 11 April 1998 |
| LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In his first public comments since he was arrested for allegedly committing a lewd act in a public bathroom, George Michael told CNN "I won't even say it's the first time it's happened." "I put myself in an extremely stupid and vulnerable position, especially because I'm in the privileged position that I am," the British pop singer said in an interview aired Friday night. "I've put myself in that position before." Michael, 34, was alone in the restroom at a Beverly Hills park Tuesday evening when an undercover officer saw him allegedly commit the unspecified act, police said. He apologized to his fans, saying he not only embarrassed himself but them as well. "I just want to let them know that I'm OK," Michael said, adding, "I wanted to let them know that this is not going to finish me off." Also in the interview, Michael dscribed his sexuality as "ambiguous." "This is as good of a time as any," he said. "I want to say that I have no problem with people knowing that I'm in a relationship with a man right now. I have not been in a relationship with a woman for almost 10 years." Michael, perhaps best known for his hit "I Want Your Sex," earlier canceled an interview slated to air Friday night on "Dateline NBC." A show spokesman said it was postponed for legal reasons at the request of Michael's attorneys. The singer was booked for investigation of misdemeanor lewd conduct and released after posting $500 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 5. Prosecutors are to decide by next week whether to file charges. At most, Michael will be charged with one count of lewd conduct and one count of indecent exposure, authorities said. They are both misdemeanors and each carry a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. |
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» George Michael arrested for lewd conduct «
By Cynthia L. Webb, Associated Press, 8 April 1998 |
| BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Pop singer George Michael has been released on bail after being arrested for investigation of engaging in lewd conduct in a park restroom, police said Wednesday. Michael was arrested shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday outside Will Rogers Park after an undercover officer on a crime suppression detail allegedly saw him engaging in a lewd act, Lieut. Edward Kreins told a news conference. "I can't go into details of the lewd act," Kreins said. The singer was alone at the time, he added. The British-born Michael gave police his real name, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, and then supplied his stage name when asked if he used any other names, Kreins said. The arresting officer did not recognize the pop star, who identified himself as a singer when asked his occupation at the station, Kreins said. Michael, 34, was booked for investigation of misdemeanor lewd conduct and released after posting $500 bail. He was scheduled for arraignment in Municipal Court on May 5. The area of the park had been the subject of other complaints of lewd conduct in the past, police said without elaborating. A call left for Andy Stevens, Michael's manager in London, was not immediately returned. His publicity agency, Connie Filippello Publicity in London, declined comment. Michael was one of the Princess of Wales's favorite singers and attended her funeral in September. In the 1980s, Michael shot to stardom with Andrew Ridgeley as the duo Wham!, whose hits included Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Careless Whisper. Wham! split up in 1986 and Michael went solo with his first album, Faith, which sold more than 10 million copies. The single, I Want Your Sex, was banned by many radio stations. |