Gay pop star Boy George has slammed Madonna for embracing Kabbalah, the mystical offshoot of Judaism which preaches homosexuality is a disease.
The former Culture Club singer is horrified the Material Girl flirted with lesbianism - most famously in her controversial kisses with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at 2003's MTV Video Music Awards - yet supports a religion which believes homosexuals can be cured.
He fumes, "I have a problem with Madonna's devotion to Kabbalah, because I watched a documentary that said that Kabbalah believes that gay people are diseased and can be cured.
"She's such a hypocrite. This is the woman who has embraced homosexuality and used it to her advantage."

interesting

apprently she doesn't follow that part of the faith... like most people they pick and choose what parts of a faith they follow


Jamie King her creative director for the past 10 is gay

most of her dancers on RIT were gay

the bagpipper on RIT is gay

friends with Rosie ODonnell Rupert Everette

her brother is gay.

George Odell just wants attention again

Sounds like someone just needs some dick.
[Edited 3/1/05 19:33pm]

Kabbies don't believe in sexes. They believe a man can be a female inside and a woman can be a man inside.

What is it with washed-up gay icons haranguing Madonna?

VoicesCarry said:

NIce!

VinnyM27 said:

Boy George is usually a cool guy, but seriously, get some info OUTSIDE the 1AM doco you saw on the telly before you issue a press statement.

Add this to the list of insults Boy George has said about Madonna over the years. He's still mad that she snubbed him way back in 1985 or 1986.

VoicesCarry said:

it's jealousy.Madonna has something they will never have: a vagina.

variety1317 said:

Exactly.Kabbalah is not anti-gay in the least.Boy George is terribly misinformed.

DavidEye said:

David you took the words out of my mouth.

jayaredee said:

seriously,George Michael,Elton John and Boy George act as if they're jealous of Madonna.She never says anything about them,but every few weeks,they're dissing her in some interview.Maybe they resent the fact that she has such a massive gay following? She's a straight woman,but she's more popular with gays than they are.How ironic,huh?

DavidEye said:

Honestly
gay people chooses her as their icon and they can't deal with it.
And i think it has something to do with being more relevant than they are and no one really cares about any of them anymore.
I mean, Elton is doing Vegas acts alongside Celine Dion
George Michael is retiring
and Boy George hasn't done anything worthwhile since his Culture Club days.

DavidEye said:

I think that's the problem...she doesn't mention them! "Love Me, Mommy!"

Chico319 said:

Ooookkaaaaay? Asshole is gettin kinda old there George huh?

Sure artists like Boy George, George Michael and Sir Elton John MIGHT be jealous of the uber-successful Madonna but maybe we should be asking the question, "Why shouldn't they?"

Sure the obvious reason would be jealosy gets you nothing but heartache but Madonna has "stolen" the hearts of the gay community while leaving their more talented gay "sisters" out in the cold (Michael, Pet Shop Boys, etc.). Why does the gay community embrace a straight woman who exploits gay culture rather then support it's own you might be asking? Camille Paglia is quoted as saying, in reference to the possible homosexuality of Ricky Martin:

"Would an admission of gayness hurt a young male singer's career? Of course it would: This junior Adonis type requires the electric charge produced by the mass projection of adolescent girls in erotic hysteria. Elton John, after his sham marriage, could afford to be openly gay because he caricatured himself as a sad-sack clown, crying through his sequins. Pretty boys, with their androgynous glow, have a more direct and dangerous sensual appeal. If Ricky Martin turned out to be just another buff gay clone, he'd cut himself off at the knees as an international artist. Current gay male culture is too shallow to provide the kind of psychological development that a performer needs."

She also critiques a comparison the Michael:

"Your evocation of the soulful George Michael (born Georgious Panayiotou) is compelling -- but to Martin's detriment. Michael's simmering inner conflicts and ethnic complexity showed through, while Martin seems to be wearing a brittle mask."

Sure Paglia has a problem with gay men (She seems to think the rampant promiscuity borders on the pathologic) but does she have a point, however hyperbolically stated, that gay men are incapable of supporting their own? Michael, though not as consistent as he was, should definitely be a mainstay, with large support from the community, especially now that he's out and speaking almost completely from a gay perspective.

I think they're all just hot for Guy.

CynicKill said:

Listen, Madonna is not the only straight female singer to be a gay icon.

Cher? Janet Jackson? Cyndi Lauper? Britney Spears? Christina Aguilera?

They pick unfairly at Madonna for everything.
Elton claims her to be a lip syncher (maybe 3 songs, with extesive choreography) but she doesn't!

Boy George picks on her religion. Saying she's a hypocrite for worshipping Kaballah. First, i know dick about kaballah but there are people who claim this to be false. Also, a lot of people don't take religion to the bitter end. There are gay Christians. Yes, Christianity with all its morals written up about how men shall not sleep together. Is that not also hypocritical Mr.George??? Well it's not. Not everyone takes religion word for word, instead use it as a spititual guiding instead of a lifestyle change..

They pick on Madonna because she's famous for her gay dancers and her lesbian ways in the past.

Here's more:
The controversy started because he talks about it on his book "Straight", which is published this week by Century at £17.99. Interviewed by The Times, he piles it on.

The Times asked Boy George what he think of Madonna. “I’ve always been fascinated by Madonna,” he admits. “As I say in my book, she is fascinating, but fascinating probably for all the wrong reasons. Many years ago, when she brought out her sex book, I was asked by a journalist on Rolling Stone, ‘What do you think is next for Madonna?’ and I said, ‘She’s going to have a baby and she’s going to find God.’ It was so predictable.”

The Times also asked him if he sees himself in some kind of competition with her? “No. I never have," he says. "I’ve always seen what she does as entirely different from what I do. Her agenda with the gay community was always about, ‘It’s good for me’. It’s ironic that she’s joined an organisation (Kabbalah) that says homosexuality is a disease that can be cured and no one picks her up on it. After making all those millions of dollars out of gay people, pretending to kiss girls, pretending to be a lesbian! I think she’s cynical. I’m not cynical. I think that’s the difference.”

On his volume of memoirs, Boy George also slams his father, Elton John and George Michael.

THE REBUTTAL:

Liz Rosenberg certainly has had a busy few days answering back in the press, here is what she had to say in the PageSix column in the New York Post today:

Madonna is firing back at Boy George after the '80s pop star blasted her for cynically bilking her gay fans.
George says Madonna's devotion to Kabbalah is the ultimate act of hypocrisy. 'It's ironic that she's joined an organization that says homosexuality is a disease that can be cured and no one picks her up on it,' George told the London Times. 'After making all those millions of dollars out of gay people, pretending to kiss girls, pretending to be a lesbian! I think she's cynical.'
But Madonna's rep, Liz Rosenberg, says George is the one being cynical. 'There's not enough room on PAGE SIX to respond to Boy George's ridiculous accusations,' she told our Jared Paul Stern, 'much less list Madonna's long-standing passion, love, commitment and devotion to the gay community which has not changed for 20 years.'
Rosenberg insists Kabbalah does 'not discriminate against homosexuals, nor do they work toward changing anyone's sexual preference. I wish Boy George would go back to writing songs....Does he ever have anything nice to say about anyone?'

DavidEye said:

Yeah!!!

CynicKill said:

CORRECTION: Ricky Martin was never ever gay to begin with.

Considering that he almost marry his girlfriend a few years ago, the only reason that Ricky kept his personal life to himself was because of one thing: Money!!!

Ricky knew that only straight women (all colors) and gay men were buying any of his english-singing albums or concerts tickets. Therefore as long there was a false gay rumor, Ricky will always take advantage of the situation and still be blinging!!!

WhamBamGlamSlam said:

Didn't Madonna use to be (or still is) Bisexual?

TonyVanDam said:

totally naive if you believe just because someone is married or going to get married that they are staright

TonyVanDam said:

I didn't realize sexual orientation was controlled with an on/off switch.

RipHer2Shreds said:

For some people, it like ice cream:

First, it's Chocolate. Tomorrow it's Cookies & Cream. The day after, it's strawberries. Whatever.