Boy George: ‘Our Jewish Community Brings Us So Much’

After two Jewish men were recently stabbed in London’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, singer Boy George, known for hits like “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” took to social media to share his horror over the attack. He witnessed its aftermath when he was passing through the neighborhood on April 29.

“I was in Golders Green yesterday. I arrived just as the police presence was building,” he wrote on X. “My heart goes out to the two Jewish victims and to their loved ones. We need to make our Jewish community know we support them. Even before I knew what had happened, I was in tears because you could feel panic in the air. These are just regular people getting with their lives. London has always been a great multicultural city. Our Jewish community brings us so much. They are an integral part of the fabric of this city.”

The singer, who grew up in Eltham and whose mother came to London from Ireland with his older brother to escape the stigma of being an unmarried teen mom, knows of London’s diversity firsthand. “Growing up, I’ve had so many beautiful Jewish friends, and I still have,” Boy George, who has dual Irish and British citizenship, shared in a recent interview with Ireland’s Patrick Kielty, host of The Late Late Show.

A little over 10 minutes into their interview, Kielty brought up the Golders Green attack to Boy George, who came with his signature hat and colorful makeup.

“London is home at the moment. I saw you putting a message up yesterday [that] you were passing those horrific attacks,” Kielty said.

Boy George explained that at the time of the attack he was on his way to his doctor’s but couldn’t get there because of the chaos.

“You know, I’ve kind of had a lot of abuse online for my support of my Jewish friends,” he then went on to say, “but if you’ve got an Amy Winehouse record, you’re probably going to have to get over it,” the singer said, bringing up the famously Jewish late singer.

Kielty then responded as too many unfortunately do in interviews nowadays, which is to bring an attack against Jews outside of Israel straight back to Israel and Gaza. “It’s that idea, isn’t it, that… you’ve got attacks on the Jewish community, and the backdrop of that is obviously the horrors in Gaza. And this is a complex thing,” he said.

Irish Jewish groups have since called out Kielty for showing “a singular lack of empathy when speaking about Jews.”

RTE stood behind Kielty, saying that the comedian and host who, according to the channel, expressed empathy with victims after October 7, “allowed his guest to share his experience and views in a sensitive and editorially appropriate manner.”

“You don’t blame a whole nation for what’s going on in America or in Russia or anywhere else, you know?” Boy George said in response to Kielty’s statement.

“I think it’s really about your relationships with people,” he continued, “I don’t choose my friends based on their race or their sexuality or their age. I choose people because I like them, because they’re good people, and I know lots of amazing Jewish people. If you don’t know any Jewish people, maybe that’s the problem.”

“Well, do you know any Jewish people?” he then asked the studio audience, and was met with deafening silence.

“It’s interesting the silence, that’s surprising me a little bit,” the singer later said.

Kielty later pressed Boy George about Israel’s participation in the Eurovision. RTE has famously decided to skip the Eurovision this year in protest of Israel’s participation, but the Irish British popstar is not only refusing to boycott the show, he’ll in fact take the stage in Vienna on the same day that Israel will be in for the semi-finals on May 12. Boy George is representing San Marino, along with Italian singer Senhit, with the song “Superstar,” which he wrote. He’ll be singing one of the verses in the song, calling his appearance a sort of delightful little “sax solo.”

“I think music is about bringing people together and not separating them,” Boy George told Kielty about his participation, reminding his that his first group, Culture Club, was all about bringing cultures together — a band with an Irishman, a Jewish drummer and an Anglo-Saxon guitarist.

The former Culture Club frontman previously spoke in defense of his participation in Eurovision back in April: “I have many Jewish friends, whom I’ve known since I was 15 or 16 years old. Are people asking me, as someone with principles, to turn my back on my Jewish friends? That is not going to happen — it will never happen. From the beginning of my career, I wore the Star of David. Go back and look at photos of Culture Club. I feel very connected to the Jewish people. I’m not necessarily connected to Israel. I don’t really have an opinion on that. But the mission of music is to unite people.”

In response to Ireland’s boycott, he said, “Ireland is my mother’s homeland. I hope they’re not too angry. But if they are, that’s out of my control.”

In his interview this week, Kielty brought the topic back to the abuse that Boy George was getting online, saying that despite it all, Boy George seems very happy in his skin, and confident in his opinions.

“I personally think I’ve become a nicer person. That’s a choice, that’s not an accident. As you get older and wiser, that’s not what happens. You have to make a choice to be different,” the popstar said, “And I love being me.”