Boy George agrees to pay libel damages
Boy George has agreed to pay £10,000 libel damages to a man he punched in a nightclub over allegations that his victim was to blame for the incident.
A judge in the High Court heard that on June 20, 2002, Andrew Thompson was working at the Sweet Suite nightclub in London's Soho as membership secretary when he was punched by Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd.
Mr Thompson's solicitor, Hanna Basha, told Mr Justice Tugendhat, sitting in London, that the defendant, Mr O'Dowd, had "accepted that he should not have assaulted the claimant (Mr Thompson) and paid him substantial compensation for the injury and distress caused".
In November 2002 an interview was published with the singer in Boyz, a gay magazine which is distributed mainly in London, she said.
"In the course of the interview, the defendant alleged that the claimant, while working at the nightclub on 20 June had insulted and provoked the defendant in such a way that the claimant had deserved to be punched hard and in effect the claimant was to blame for the incident."
Ms Basha added: "Understandably the claimant was surprised and shocked by the account that the defendant had given in Boyz magazine."
Mr Thompson had sought an apology and withdrawal of the allegations, she said. Mr O'Dowd refused "and as a result the claimant had no alternative but to issue the proceedings against the defendant in order to clear his name".
Ms Basha continued: "The defendant has acknowledged that he should not have assaulted the claimant and he was wrong to have said that the claimant deserved to be hit.
"To mark this, he has agreed to join in this statement and publicly withdraw the allegations and apologise for the distress that they have caused to the claimant.
"In addition he has agreed to pay substantial damages of £10,000 to the claimant and the claimant's legal costs in this matter."