The singer, who died of suspected heart failure aged 53 on Christmas Day, also refused to give interviews for fear of giving away any hint about his sexuality, his friend and former publicist Phil Lobel, 60, told DailyMail.
Even his manager was unsure if he was gay because he would never discuss dating or relationships in any form, Lobel said.
Despite that, Michael was on the receiving end of homophobic abuse when he was at a hotel pool in Speedos and a young mother accused him and his friends of having AIDS.
At the time of the tour, Michael, who did not publicly come out as gay for another decade, was still firmly in the closet to even those closest to him on the road, and was, says Lobel, left feeling ‘very alone’.
‘There were times when he would have a good time with his crew and staff during the day,’ Lobel told DailyMail.com. ‘But there were other times when the loneliness would show – he would basically retreat to the privacy of his own world and be alone.
‘I didn’t find out why George was so reticent and didn’t really want to give interviews until very late on in the tour and it was because at that time, he was very much in the closet.
‘He was very unhappy for a lot of the tour because of that and because of it, he would go back to his room after those amazing sold-out Faith shows and be alone.’
Michael, who said in later interviews that he did not come to terms with his sexuality until he was 24 and did not have a real relationship until he was 27, only revealed that he was gay after he was arrested in Beverly Hills in 1998, when he was 34 years old.
The arrest, by an undercover cop in a public restroom, led to him being charged with ‘lewd behavior’ and handed a $500 fine, as well as 80 hours of community service.
But in the ensuing furor, Michael, who had previously only revealed his sexuality to Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley and his two sisters, was forced to go public about his long-term relationship with Texan businessman Kenny Goss, now 58.
Speaking to the BBC in 2007, he said that hiding his sexuality had made him feel ‘fraudulent’ but he had felt it necessary to protect his mother.
The arrest, by an undercover cop in a public restroom, led to him being charged with ‘lewd behavior’ and handed a $500 fine, as well as 80 hours of community service.
But in the ensuing furor, Michael, who had previously only revealed his sexuality to Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley and his two sisters, was forced to go public about his long-term relationship with Texan businessman Kenny Goss, now 58.
Speaking to the BBC in 2007, he said that hiding his sexuality had made him feel ‘fraudulent’ but he had felt it necessary to protect his mother.
What people have to acknowledge… is that there’s a level of honesty that’s natural to me [and] that I’m uncomfortable with anything else,’ he said.
‘So firstly, understand how much I love my family and that AIDS was the predominant feature of being gay in the 1980s and early ’90s as far as any parent was concerned.
‘My mother was still alive and every single day would have been a nightmare for her thinking what I might have been subjected to.’
He added: ‘[If I had come out], I don’t think I would have the same career – my ego might not have been satisfied in some areas – but I think I would have been a happier man.’
For his part, Lobel says he had no inkling that Michael might be homosexual until a chance conversation with the singer’s manager, Rob Kehene, toward the end of the Faith tour.
‘So firstly, understand how much I love my family and that AIDS was the predominant feature of being gay in the 1980s and early ’90s as far as any parent was concerned.
‘My mother was still alive and every single day would have been a nightmare for her thinking what I might have been subjected to.’
He added: ‘[If I had come out], I don’t think I would have the same career – my ego might not have been satisfied in some areas – but I think I would have been a happier man.’
For his part, Lobel says he had no inkling that Michael might be homosexual until a chance conversation with the singer’s manager, Rob Kehene, toward the end of the Faith tour.
I never asked George, “Are you gay?” It wasn’t my place to ask,’ he said. ‘It’s a decision everybody needs to make themselves. But I realized towards the end of the tour.
‘It was about two months before the end and we were in this hotel in Texas. The manager [Kehene] suddenly asks me, “Phil, do you think George is gay?”
‘I was incredulous – I looked at him and said, you’re George’s manager and you don’t know? He goes, “No. George has never spoken to me about it, he’s never spoken to anyone about it – his dating, sexuality or anything like that”.
‘So if he is, he’s totally in the closet and that’s why he’s so unhappy touring and on the road – because he’s so very alone.
‘I thought that was kind of sad because by that point, we’d been on the road for almost a year.’
‘It was about two months before the end and we were in this hotel in Texas. The manager [Kehene] suddenly asks me, “Phil, do you think George is gay?”
‘I was incredulous – I looked at him and said, you’re George’s manager and you don’t know? He goes, “No. George has never spoken to me about it, he’s never spoken to anyone about it – his dating, sexuality or anything like that”.
‘So if he is, he’s totally in the closet and that’s why he’s so unhappy touring and on the road – because he’s so very alone.
‘I thought that was kind of sad because by that point, we’d been on the road for almost a year.’
It was not the only sadness on the road – despite not being out, and the crew being at the least unclear about his sexuality, Michael was targeted by homophobes at a swimming pool in Pennsylvania, Lobel recalled.
‘There was a time when we were in Pennsylvania and the weather was good,’ Lobel, who has also worked with Brad Pitt and Van Morrison, said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
‘We were out at the pool and George was out at the pool with us. I remember vividly – we were out at the pool and there was a mother with her kids in the pool.
‘She scurried over to the kids when George and his friends jumped in the pool, you know, wearing Speedos.
‘And she pulled the kids out of the pool and said, “Get out of the pool, they probably have AIDS”. We heard her saying it and we just looked at each other and were in shock.
‘But this was 1988 and AIDS was on the cover everywhere and we were in the hinterland in Pennsylvania. George, he just shrugged it off and said, “Oh well, family hotels”.’
‘There was a time when we were in Pennsylvania and the weather was good,’ Lobel, who has also worked with Brad Pitt and Van Morrison, said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
‘We were out at the pool and George was out at the pool with us. I remember vividly – we were out at the pool and there was a mother with her kids in the pool.
‘She scurried over to the kids when George and his friends jumped in the pool, you know, wearing Speedos.
‘And she pulled the kids out of the pool and said, “Get out of the pool, they probably have AIDS”. We heard her saying it and we just looked at each other and were in shock.
‘But this was 1988 and AIDS was on the cover everywhere and we were in the hinterland in Pennsylvania. George, he just shrugged it off and said, “Oh well, family hotels”.’
Despite his obvious unhappiness, Lobel, who was hired for the tour after promising the singer he would not have to do interviews, said Michael was good company and had a ‘nice sense of humor’ as well as an eagle eye for detail.
‘I was supposed to be taking a [private] jet with him once and he left me at his manager’s house by accident,’ said Lobel.
‘Then, when I finally got there [to the jet], George was in there hiding behind a magazine. When I walked in, he just pulled it down slowly and said, “What took you so long?” He had a real nice sense of humor.’
Their first meeting, which took place in 1987 at Lippman’s Beverly Hills home, was a sign of things to come, says Lobel – who recalls encountering the singer as he was about to have a tennis lesson.
‘I was supposed to be taking a [private] jet with him once and he left me at his manager’s house by accident,’ said Lobel.
‘Then, when I finally got there [to the jet], George was in there hiding behind a magazine. When I walked in, he just pulled it down slowly and said, “What took you so long?” He had a real nice sense of humor.’
Their first meeting, which took place in 1987 at Lippman’s Beverly Hills home, was a sign of things to come, says Lobel – who recalls encountering the singer as he was about to have a tennis lesson.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Αναρτήσεις
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean. 
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου