Was George Michael the victim of “illegal entrapment” that led to sex in a public toilet?
Back in 1998, George Michael made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The singer was arrested for supposedly performing a lewd sexual act on a plainclothes undercover police officer in a public toilet in Los Angeles. However, when he appeared on David Letterman to discuss the incident earnestly, Michael explained that he felt he had been entrapped.
Letterman asked George precisely what happened. “Take us through it step by step,” he joked. Michael replied: “I have no problem talking about it; I’m just trying to work it out. I’m very good at embarrassing myself. What happened was kind of vaguely, slightly inebriated popstar on a lovely summer’s day, and I went into the restroom. I was followed in.”
“It’s a very classy restaurant, directly opposite the Beverly Hills Hotel,” he continued. “Basically, I was followed into the toilet by a man well over six foot. Fairly attractive. The official word is entrapped, I suppose; I was coaxed fairly directly. Nothing happened; I didn’t come… within… er… [audience laughs]. I’ve said before, I’m no stranger to outdoor nookie.”
While perhaps Michael was a bit naïve, he certainly felt that the officer was unfair in how he approached the situation. “A lot of people find this really hard to imagine. I must admit I found it quite hard to believe at the time,” he said. “It’s very common practice; it’s called entrapment. It’s illegal. It’s basically being coaxed.”
The moment George Michael took control of the narrative
Michael’s decision to talk about it so publicly and plainly was its own kind of rebellion. There was no media coach sheen, no tight-lipped denial. Instead, much like he had done for the majority of his life, the singer just laid it out, awkwardness and all. Not to ask for sympathy, of course, but to show how ridiculous the whole thing had been.
The Letterman interview became something more than a bit of late-night theatre. It was the moment he stopped trying to play the game clean. After years of being asked about his sexuality through implication and half-questions, the mask was off. And it didn’t seem like he missed it.
At the time, some people still wanted to call it a scandal. But the only scandal was how common this kind of policing actually was. Gay men were being watched, followed, cornered, and then booked for reacting. That wasn’t unique to George Michael. It was just that his name made it news.
Afterwards, the headlines faded, but the shift stuck. Michael leaned into openness, dropped the coded language, and started saying what he thought, even if it got him into more trouble. For better or worse, that day in Los Angeles changed everything.
Letterman was playing faux naïf and wanted Michael to explain to him exactly what happened. “What did the guy do?” Michael replied. “This is the nicest way I can put it; I don’t want to be graphic and nasty. He played a game called ‘I’ll show you mine, you show me yours and then I’ll take you down the police station’.”
When Letterman asked George exactly what the police officer was showing him, he replied: “He didn’t have to drop his pants. I’m not allowed to say the words, am I? I’m a bit stuck here. He had the important equipment [out]. The police report said that he was simulating urination.”
This was the hard bit for George to understand. He then said, “I’m sorry, excuse me, but how do you simulate urination and make no noise? If you tried to simulate urination doing that with your hands, I’m sorry, but you’d get wee all over the shop, is all I can say. Don’t try it at home – no, actually, do try it at home because you’re safe there.”
