Boy George explains feud with "unfriendly" Janet Jackson

11 January 2024, 10:13

Boy George interview: Culture Club icon explains beef with Adele and Madonna

By Mayer Nissim

Boy George unpicks one of his many, many pop feuds.

Loading audio...

While some pop superstars would rather not rock the boat, others are only too glad to get stuck into their contemporaries.

Boy George has had more feuds than most – including bustups with the likes of Madonna and Adele – and he recently explained his falling out with another top-tier star.

Writing in his latest memoir Karma: The Definitive Autobiography, released in November 2023, Boy George revealed why he has very little time for Janet Jackson.

"She wasn't friendly and didn't try to be," he wrote of their meeting on US music TV show Solid Gold in the 1980s.

"But I just walked off and got myself into my best 'Boy George' and was walking around backstage to make sure I was seen by everyone."

Boy George in Rome in 1986. Picture: Getty Images

Later in the day, he was asked by a crew member to video a message for Janet, and he simply said: "Next time you meet someone, be nice."

He was then taken to her dressing room, where Janet is said to have told him he didn't recognise her earlier, prompting him to reply: "Are you saying you would have been nice to me if you knew who I was?"

George claimed that they "parted on awkward terms" and that Jackson "looked straight through me" when they next crossed paths during the taping of Top of the Pops some years later.

Janet Jackson in California in 1986. Picture: Getty Images

In a new interview with People, George said: "When you write a book like this, there’s a chance you're going to bump into someone that you've written about.

"I have to say what I've written about people is the truth of what happened and how they behaved."

He continued: "So I'm kind of comfortable with that. I'm always someone who's prepared to bury the hatchet because there's always another opportunity to be different.

"At this point, there's certain people I'm never gonna be friends with unless a miracle happens – and I guess I put her in that category."