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Poor George
MSN Gossip, December 2002
The police officer who arrested George Michael back in 1998 for lewd acts in a Beverly Hills public bathroom is suing the star for - get this - ruining his life.
When George was originally arrested he had to face the insane media frenzy, was fined a few hundred bucks and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service. But then he made fun of the whole mess in a video where he dressed up as a cop and performed in front of rotating urinals. He also claimed in magazine and TV interviews that the officer - Marcello Rodriguez - was "waving his genitals in front of (Michael)." In one interview he claimed that the officer played "I'll show you mine, you show me yours" with him.
Apparently tough enough to be a cop but not tough enough to take George's claims, Rodriguez is suing the star for a whopping $10 million for emotional and mental distress. The officer's lawsuit was first dismissed two years ago by a U.S. District Judge, who said George was merely expressing his opinion. But get this - just last week a federal appeals court in San Francisco reinstated the lawsuit and found that the allegations went beyond general statements. The ruling said that despite being colorful and humorous, the statements made by the singer accused the officer of "specific and objectively verifiable facts." In other words, it looks like our boy George may find his wallet getting lighter real soon.
The BBC recently reported on the whole fiasco and offered this bit of commentary..."In no way would we suggest that Mr. Rodriguez is simply trying to score a quick cynical buck from a rich man. We would tell Marcello to get a life, but he'd probably sue us for upsetting him, the poor lamb."
Elton John and Geri Halliwell sent up in 2DTV
Ananova, 17 December 2002
Elton John, George Michael and Geri Halliwell are caricatured for the Christmas edition of 2DTV. Elton is devastated when he finds out he's wearing the same outfit as Geri's newly decorated Christmas tree. The satire cartoon is on ITV this Wednesday at 10.30pm. It also features the Beckhams buying son Brooklyn the most expensive Christmas present they can find. They finally present him with L45m Brazilian football player Ronaldo.
George Michael donates L50k to TV appeal
Examiner, 13 December 2002
Chart star George Michael sent a L50,000 cheque to TV’s This Morning to help the show’s annual appeal. The singer passed the cheque on to the show after seeing a discussion of the programme’s new Pass The Parcel fundraiser. The appeal asks viewers to buy an extra present which will be given to needy youngsters after being deposited at Asda, Dunnes or BHS stores. The Salvation Army is collecting and distributing the presents. A spokeswoman for the show said: “George loves This Morning and watches it every day. He watched the appeal and decided that it was something he wanted to do and sent a cheque in to us.”
VH1.com Gags Online Visitors With an 80s Spoon
VH1, 12 December 2002
Website Supports Premiere of VH1's 'I Love The 80s' Week With Photo Galleries, Trivia Games, Factoids and Polls
NEW YORK, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- It's all about yuppies, preppies and Coreys (you know, Feldman, Haim and Hart) on VH1.com this month when the website salutes all things 80s in conjunction with VH1's upcoming documentary series "I Love The 80s," premiering on Monday, December 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Each one-hour episode of "I Love The 80s" takes viewers on a stream-of-consciousness tour of one year of the 80s with vivid flashbacks of the people, music, movies, TV shows, products, fashions, fads, trends and major events that defined pop culture that year.
VH1.com presents 80s trivia games, photo galleries, factoids and polls that salute an era when Ocean Pacific was considered a designer label and mousse was not a dessert.
Check out http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/I_love_the_80s/series.jhtml .
TRIVIA GAMES
Are you up to the challenge? Each year has its own 10-question trivia test on VH1.com. For example, how well do you recall 1981? Do you remember the name of the church where Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married? Or how many days the Iran hostages were held? Or which building President Ronald Reagan was shot outside of?
"YOU KNOW YOU'RE A CHILD OF THE 80S IF ... "
A rundown of some activities and attitudes that forever mark you as a "Child of the 80s" if:
You considered Ocean Pacific to be a designer label.
You owned a home Beta video recorder.
You thought George Michael was straight.
You rolled up the sleeves on your sports jacket for that Sonny Crockett look.
You discovered a great new singer named Tina Turner.
PHOTO GALLERIES
Dozens of high-style, glossy shots of the men and women who made our hearts skip a beat in the 80s.
"BABES" -- Do you remember how gorgeous Bo Derek was on that beach? Check her out and other lovely ladies of the 80s such as Appollonia, Rebecca DeMornay, Samantha Fox, Tawney Kitaen, Kelly LeBrock, Heather Thomas - and Jessica Rabbit.
"HUNKS" -- They're all here in their shining glory: Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Patrick Duffy, Erik Estrada, Richard Gere, Harry Hamlin, Lee Horsley, C. Thomas Howell, John Stamos and Sylvester Stallone.
"BEFORE AND AFTER" -- Two decades have done a world of good for some of the 80s' biggest pop and movie stars. Check out how time has been kind to Madonna, Janet Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Tommy Lee and Debbie Gibson among others. This gallery also has childhood snapshots of today's hottest pop stars such as Kid Rock, Christina Aguilera and J.C. Chavez and Justin Timberlake from *NSYNC.
VH1.com has also posted 20 "Fun Facts" about each year and is presenting polls as well as the opportunity to buy CDs from their favorite 80s artists.
VH1.com is the site where music lovers hear new music first from all genres. Visitors have access to world premiere videos, music news and complete profiles on music artists literally from A to Z. Music lovers also have the opportunity to purchase new releases through the VH1.com web site.
Mandela to Host Concert for AIDS Victims
IOL, 10 December 2002
Former South African president Nelson Mandela announced that he'll host a concert featuring some of the world's leading entertainers to raise funds for Africa's millions of AIDS victims. "The concert will focus on the growing impact that AIDS has on human life, not only in South Africa but throughout the world," Mandela said. U2 star Bono, Macy Gray and Shaggy had already agreed to perform at the Feb. 2 show, "Mandela SOS" to be held on Robben Island, a rocky outcrop off the coast of Cape Town where Mandela spent nearly two decades as a prisoner of the apartheid regime and is now a museum. According to some news reports George Michael was also invited but hasn’t yet replied. “Other artists still to reply include Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, Linkin Park, Fat Boy Slim, Paul Oakenfold and George Michael”
Falcons over Buccaneers
New York Post, 6 December 2002
What a week for pop divas: Mariah Carey bared her soul (and copious cleavage) on "Dateline," drug-addled Whitney Houston came clean on "20/20," and it was announced that George Michael - pound-for-pound the greatest singer of them all - is being sued for slander by the cop who busted him for gettin' down with his bad self in a California park men's room. As for his defense, like with everything else, George wants to do it himself.
Constant reformer
The Scotsman, 6 December 2002
BOY GEORGE: " This is what he has to say about Will Young: "He's our 'out-and- proud' gay pop star, so why in his songs does he sing about women?" If Young is too coy, George Michael is too much the other way. "He's put back our cause. He's done us a huge disservice because he's encouraged people to think of homosexuals in purely sexual terms. They don't think of us as having jobs, dogs, cats, lives. I heard him rant about lowering the age of consent and I wanted to throw up. He shouldn't have come Outside - he should have bloody well stayed indoors."
GENITALLY DOES IT - Bacon suing George
Playlouder, 6 December 2002
George Michael is being sued by Marcelo Rodriguez, the rozzer who Michael claims flashed his genitals at him in order to entrap him, in a now infamous incident in a public lav in LA in 1998. The pig has been granted permission to proceed with a L6.5 million lawsuit by an American Appeals Court as Michael's allegations "went beyond general statements of opinion". Come on, he only said you flashed your nads at him, man! Rodriguez reckons it's ruined his life though, since being labelled a bent copper. Arf. George himself has been no stranger to controversy, firstly growing a beard at Live Aid and making my best friend's sister cry, before releasing a racy single "I Want Your Sex" which was banned by the BBC and still failed to make No.1 as it was a bit rubbish. After the toilet incident George came out, although anyone who'd listened to his album 'Older', or had listened to Boy George, or who'd seen the video to 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go' knew anyway. Thankfully, nobody cared, except lots of people in the USA who stopped buying his records. Harsh. He released "Shoot The Dog" this year with a video featuring Tony Blair as George Bush's little doggy. A few people were enraged for about half an hour, and the single entered the charts at No.12...
George Cops it
Dotmusic, 4 December 2002
A police officer who arrested George Michael in a Los Angeles toilet, has won the right to sue the pop superstar for claiming the cop "waved his genitals" at him.
An appeals court in America ruled this week that Marcelo Rodriguez may continue his $6.5 million legal challenge against Michael, after the original case was blocked. Judges agreed that Michael's allegations "went beyond general statements of opinion", after he made the comment in a number of magazine articles and on TV, following his arrest in public lavatory in Memorial Park, Beverly Hills in 1998.
The court concluded that Michael had accused Rodriguez of "specific and objectively verifiable facts", reports ananova, despite them being made in a colourful and humorous manner. George Michael pleaded no contest to a charge of committing a lewd act following his arrest. He was fined L540 and ordered to do 80 hours community service.
Police Officer Can Sue George Michael, Court Rules
LAUNCH, by Mark Armstrong, 4 December 2002
George Michael may be sued for slander by the police officer who arrested him more than four years ago.
On April 7, 1998, the British pop star was arrested in a public men's restroom in Will Rogers Memorial Park, in Beverly Hills, California, and charged with committing a lewd act. Michael later claimed the arresting officer Marcelo Rodriguez "waved his genitals" at him, and repeated the assertion several times in magazine articles and on television.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found in a 2-1 ruling that Rodriguez may continue his $10 million slander lawsuit first filed in 1999 against Michael. Judges said the singer's accusations, "despite being colorful and humorous, went beyond general statements of opinion" and added that Michael had accused the officer of "specific and objectively verifiable facts."
In 1998, Michael pleaded no contest to the lewd act charge, was fined $810, and was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
Beverly Hills cop gets OK to sue George Michael
Reuters/Variety, 3 December 2002
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Beverly Hills police officer who arrested British pop star George Michael (news) for lewd conduct in a park toilet in 1998 got the go-ahead Tuesday to proceed with a $10 million slander suit.
Marcelo Rodriguez's first attempt to sue Michael, claiming the singer mocked him in a video for his hit "Outside", was thrown out by Los Angeles courts two years on the grounds that public figures such as police officers are not entitled to sue. But an appeals panel ruled Tuesday that the suit could go ahead because Michael had made statements after his arrest that accused Rodriguez of "specific and objectively verifiable acts."
Michael, who publicly revealed his homosexuality after the April 1998 incident, accused the undercover policeman of entrapment in subsequent interviews and poked fun at the arrest in his "Outside" video. He pleaded no contest to a charge of committing a lewd act and was fined $810 and ordered to perform community service. Rodriguez is seeking $10 million for humiliation, emotional and physical distress and medical treatment.
Cop will sue popstar
SKY, 3 December 2002
The Beverly Hills police officer who arrested pop star George Michael for lewd conduct in a park toilet in 1998 has been given the go-ahead for a L7 million slander suit. Marcelo Rodriguez has already attempted to sue George Michael. He claims the singer mocked him in a video for his chart hit "Outside". But the attempt was thrown out of courts in Los Angeles two years on the grounds that public figures such as police officers are not entitled to sue.
Entrapment
But an appeals panel has now ruled that the suit could go ahead because Michael had made statements after his arrest that accused Rodriguez of "specific and objectively verifiable acts." Michael, who publicly revealed his homosexuality after the April 1998 incident, accused the undercover policeman of entrapment in subsequent interviews and poked fun at the arrest in his "Outside" video.
Humiliation
He pleaded no contest to a charge of committing a lewd act and was fined L515 and ordered to perform community service. Rodriguez is seeking L7 million for humiliation, emotional and physical distress and medical treatment.
ARISE SIR KEEF? - Richards 16/1 for knighthood
Playlouder, 2 December 2002
The New Year's Honours will be upon us shortly, and Ladbrokes are running a book on which popstars may get the nod from Lizzie for the year of 2003. Reformed wildman Eric Clapton heads the list at 11/4. Debauchery is positively encouraged these days by her Maj, considering Mick and Elt have been awarded recently. Sir Ringo anyone? He's 3/1 on, as is Sting, who spends all his time (when he's not shagging) trying to save rain forests while playing the bass with his shirt off. David Bowie is 5/1 which we might have a little flutter on. Roger Daltrey (big hair, trouts) is 9-1, while band mate Pete Townsend (deaf, big nose, nutter) is 10/1. Rod Stewart (shagger of blondes) is 12/1 and Keith Richards is 16/1!
It could happen!
George Michael (toilets) is 25/1 and even Chris Martin (self-deprecating) is in at 66/1 bizarrely enough. Liam Gallagher (Terminator) is 150/1, though expect those odds to widen, and dear old Shaun Ryder ("---") is 250/1, and lets face it, you'd be chucking your money away.
British advertising watchdog bans 'offensive' commercial on Bush
Channel News Asia, 2 December 2002
A British advertising watchdog is banning a commercial for a comedy series because it pokes fun at US President George W Bush. The commercial promotes highlights from 2DTV, an animated series that mocks celebrities and politicians.
Advertisement
The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre says the advertisement which depicts a cartoon of President Bush inserting a video tape into a toaster, could only be shown if the makers sought his permission first. The series' producer dismissed the argument as absurd. The requirement, Giles Pilbrow says, would amount to asking terror suspect Osama bin Laden or Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if it was all right to caricature them. "I would question whether the advert is offensive, we do far ruder things about the man on our show. It's our bread and butter on 2DTV to be rude about George W. Bush," said Mr Pilbrow. "We did it on the George Michael video, it's what we do every day and the viewers love it. And so it seems to be an absurd situation to have this advert banned for that reason." The row is the latest in a series of snipes on Mr Bush's intelligence. A senior aide to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien resigned on Tuesday after describing Mr Bush as a "moron".
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