When people look back on the 1980s, it instantly becomes clear that it was a wild decade in a lot of ways. For proof of that fact, all you have to do is look at the crazy fashion and hairstyles from the 80s and realize how poorly most of the looks from that era have aged. On top of that, pop culture from the 80s was pretty out there as well. Despite that, people seem to have forgotten a lot of things from the decades. For example, there are lots of forgotten 80s stars and many people seem to have no memory of several celebrity couples from the 80s as well.
Even though so many things from the 80s have proven to be forgettable, almost everyone who lived through the decade is bound to remember Boy George. After all, George is a talented singer who lent his voice to one of the biggest hits from the 80s and he looked so distinctive during a decade filled with crazy fashion. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone who enjoyed George’s work from the 80s has continued to follow his life and career in the years since. As a result, a lot of people have no idea why Boy George went to prison and why he was released early.
Why Boy George Went To Prison
In April of 2007, a male escort and Norwegian model named Audun Carlsen went to the police with an incredible story about Boy George. According to what Carlsen told the police, he initially met George after the famous singer hired him to pose for a photoshoot. During their first meeting, everything went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, however, when George hired Carlsen a second time, things went horribly awry, to say the very least.
According to what Audun Carlsen told the police, Boy George suddenly accused the model and escort of stealing photographs from the pop star’s laptop. Evidently convinced that Carlsen had committed that transgression against him, George proceeded to handcuff the model and escort to a wall fixture. While that was pretty outrageous already, Carlsen claimed that Geroge and another man also punched and beat him. Eventually, Carlsen was able to escape the situation but he was so desperate to get out that he fled wearing nothing but underwear.
Of course, Boy George is far from the first celebrity to find themselves in serious legal peril. However, given all of the tawdry details of the crimes that George was accused of, it is no surprise that the press was very interested when the singer was arrested on assault and false imprisonment charges. Ultimately George would stand trial for the serious crimes he was accused of.
Given the outrageous nature of the crimes he was accused of, most people likely expected Boy George to claim he was falsely accused in court. Instead, the singer’s lawyer solely argued that George’s years of addiction to illegal substances should be considered a mitigating factor in his crimes. Given that nobody was arguing that George was an innocent man, the only question that remained was what consequences the singer would suffer. During the sentencing, the judge stated that George “deprived” his victim of "his liberty and human dignity without warning or proper explanation to him of its purpose, length or purported justification". As a result, George was sentenced to 11 months in prison for his crimes.
What Happened When Boy George’s Was Released Early From Jail
When a high-profile trial ends in a prison sentence, most of the resulting headlines will focus on how much time the person is set to spend behind bars. In reality, however, a lot of people who get sentenced to prison wind up getting out early for one reason or another. As a result, it wasn’t too surprising that Boy George was let out of prison on good behavior after only serving four months of his 15-month prison sentence. Of course, some people presumed that George’s celebrity sentence played a major role in his early release given the violent nature of his crimes. However, there is no indication that this is the case.
While it seems extremely safe to assume that Boy George didn’t like his time behind bars, in some ways it seems like going to prison was the best thing to ever happen to the singer. After all, while talking to French Vogue in 2011, George revealed that his time in prison made him grow up.
“In prison, I was like, ‘This is my fault I’m here now.’ In New York, when I swept up the streets of Chinatown during my probation, I remember I was saying ‘This would never have happened to [David] Bowie… I always thought I would be reasonable at 40. It took me seven more years, but now I control my life. The most important thing to me over the past five years is that I grew up. A confession that I would have never imagined before. The idea was like a capitulation. I hated that. I want to stay immature forever. There is a real power when you grow up and it was like a revelation for me.”
Even though it is great that every indication points to Boy George turning his life around post-prison, it is very important to keep something else in mind. After all, George had a victim and it seems all but certain that Audun Carlsen was traumatized by what happened to him.
