In 1998 George Michael was arrested and charged over a leud act

Pop singer George Michael made headlines around the globe when he was arrested on this day in 1998.

The British-born singer was arrested for “engaging in a lewd act” in a public restroom at Will Rogers Memorial Park in Hollwood. His arrest was part of a sting operation conducted by Los Angeles police.  In an interview with MTV the singer described what went down.

“I got followed into the restroom and then this cop—I didn’t know it was a cop, obviously—he started playing this game, which I think is called, ‘I’ll show you mine, you show me yours, and then when you show me yours, I’m going to nick you!'” Michael recounted.

The musician did not shy away from his arrest, days later he went on CNN and spoke openly about his sexuality for the first time, telling host Jim Moret that he was gay. Michael shared that he’d entered into his first same-sex relationship when he was 27 and had kept his sexuality private because of the way he was scrutinised earlier in his career.

“I spent the first half of my career being accused of being gay when I hadn’t had anything like a gay relationship,” Michael said in the interview. “So I spent my years growing up being told what my sexuality was really … which was kind of confusing.”

George Michael pleaded “no contest” to the charge and was fined USD$810 and sentenced to 80 hours of community service. Shortly afterwards he made light of his arrest when he released a new song called Outside, all about the joys of having sex in risky situations. The video featured a public bathroom that morphed into a disco, and kissing police officers.

Marcello Rodriguez, the policeman who had arrested the singer, attempted to sue for damages saying the video and interviews that the singer had given mocked him. He asked the court to force Michael to pay him USD $10 million in damages. The case was dismissed, and after an appeal it was ruled that Rodriquez as a public official was not eligible to make the claim.

Actor Gorden Kaye from ‘Allo ‘Allo was born in 1941

Gorden Kaye was born on this day in 1941, while he was born with the traditional spelling of the name Gordon, he later explained his use of an e rather than an o, stemmed from a typing error when he first listed with the union Actor’s Equity.

He got his first break acting on radio, and from the late 1960’s often appeared in small parts and guest roles on British televison series. You can spot him All Creatures Great and Small, Minder, Are You Being Served and It Aint Half Hot Mum.  Kaye also appeared in small parts in two films by Monty Python director Terry Gillam. He’s in Bazil and Jabberwocky. 

His most famous role however began in 1982 when her was cast as bumbling cafe owner Rene Artois in the long running sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo. The pilot was filmed in 1982, but it would be two years before the series went into production in 1984 and continued until 1992. Kaye appeared in all 84 episodes of the show and would later return to playing Rene in a stage production that toured Australia.

In the 1980’s Kaye was outed as being gay by the British tabloids. At the time he was appearing on stage at The Palladium Theatre in the West End, When the curtain rose for his next performance, the audience gave an enthusiastic standing ovation to let the actor know they couldn’t have cared less about his sexuality.

In his autobiography Rene and Me he wrote about the challenges of being a gay, overweight, shy, youth in the 1950s. In 1990, Kaye suffered a serious head injury when fierce storms hit the British coast. He was an accident when a wooden advertising board crashed through his car windscreens. He suffered serious amnesia after the accident, and filming on the next series of ‘Allo ‘Allo was delayed.

Kaye suffered dementia in this final year, passing away in January 2017.

Singer Janis Ian celebrates her birthday today. The singer announced that she was gay in 1993, and married partner Patricia Snyder in 2003. The couple have been together since 1989.

Ian, who scored a Grammy in 1975 for her tune At Seventeen picked up a second Grammy in 2013 for her spoken word recording of her autobiography. While she may not be at the top of the charts like she was in the 1970’s, Janis Ian has continued to release albums regularly, predominately in the folk genre.

The prolific singer songwriter has seen her work be recorded by a variety of artists including Cher, Nina Simone, Amy Grant, Bette Midler and Sheena Easton. In 2022 Ian said her latest album, the 24th release of her career, would be her final recording.

One of our favourite recordings from Janis is her 1979 hit ‘Fly to High’ which was produced by disco legend Giorgio Moroder. It got to Number 7 on the Australian charts in early 1980.

OIP Staff, this post was first published in 2023.

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