This documentary on the pop star’s arrest for a ‘lewd act’ shows an era so breathtakingly homophobic that the shaming of gay men was a blood sport – and his response to it was one of absolute grace
is arrested by an undercover police officer for performing a “lewd act” in a Beverly Hills public toilet. His cousin, Andros Georgiou, rushes from London to be by his side. Outside Michael’s house, more than 50 international camera crews are gathered. There are helicopters overhead; paparazzi everywhere. Georgiou circles the block trying to phone his cousin. Finally Michael answers and apologises for not picking up. He was blow-drying his hair.
Inside, Michael explains to his people that he, as Georgiou puts it, “had a few glasses, got a bit horny, and fancied a bit of sex”. Hardly the stuff of the scandal of the decade, but these were viciously homophobic times, as the first episode of this two-part documentary barely needs to reminds us. The tabloids were king, and outing people in the public sphere became a national blood sport. Which is the true scandal of this story.
It was an open secret that Michael, who died in 2016 on Christmas Day at the age of 53, was gay. His ex-partner Kenny Goss recalls how, when they started going out in 1996, they would walk into the Ivy holding hands. “He was wearing espadrilles and three-quarter length jeans,” is how DJ Fat Tony puts it with an ironic smile. “All the signs were there.” The media made it impossible for Michael to come out, then had a field day mocking him for hiding after he was arrested.
Then came the Aids epidemic. “Everyone wants to touch a pop star,” says Wham!’s manager, Simon Napier-Bell. “Everyone equates Aids as something you can catch by touching someone. How can a pop star say he’s gay?” It was in this frenzy of moral panic that the tabloids began outing people. All the gay men – a former RAF medical officer, social worker and Conservative MP – who appear to start crying when they recall the impact of being outed at the time.
As the front pages emblazoned with George’s Shame rolled off the presses and the homophobic jibes spewed forth, Michael responded with pure pop star grace. “‘We’re going out for dinner’,” Georgiou recalls him saying that night in Los Angeles. “He said: ‘Let’s just front this up. I’m not hiding.’ Most people would have locked themselves away.” Georgiou’s eyes begin to glisten. “I’m still so proud of him for that.” Me too.
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