Geri Halliwell has spoken for the first time about an incident at the 2000 BRIT Awards where she was targeted by a known terrorist because of her friendship with George Michael.
Halliwell said that police intercepted a plan by homophobic terrorist David Copeland, who was jailed for life in 2000, to shoot her live on stage because she was “friends with George Michael.”
The singer told The Sun: “It was before my first ever performance as a solo artist that he issued me with a death threat.
“He threatened to shoot me, and hated the fact I hung out with the gays, and was friends with George Michael.
“He hated me for camping it up, for loving the gays and for being friends with George. I told him to do one.
“Scotland Yard were involved, and the police had to come round to my house, to warn me officially.
“They said they had to give me the freedom to choose whether I performed or not, but that they advised me to pull out of the ceremony.
“But I said ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to be bullied by this’.
“We are judged by what we do, not what we say – and I will always stand with my friends.
“It’s about spirit, not sexuality – I feel so protective of any person who has had prejudice against them.”
Geri defied calls to cancel and went on to perform at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, emerging from the top of a grand staircase strategically positioned between a pair of giant inflatable legs.
Geri performed ‘Bag It Up’ surrounded by a camped up army of glitter-covered back-up dancers.
Geri Halliwell was famously best friends with George Michael, she named her son, Montague George, after the singer.
George Michael rose to fame with his schoolfriend Alan Ridgeley in Wham! whose hits include ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’ and the perennial festive song ‘Last Christmas’ which every year heralds the holidays.
In 2011, George Michael suffered from pneumonia and in 2013 he injured his head when he fell out of his car.
The singer passed away from natural causes on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53.
David Copeland received six life sentences in June 2000 for three counts of murder and three counts of causing explosions in London in order to endanger life.
Spanning 13 days in April 1999, he caused explosions in Brixton, south London, Brick Lane in east London and Soho, central London.
The final explosion contained 1,500 nails and was detonated in LGBTQ+ pub, the Admiral Duncan, and killed Andrea Dykes, 27, who was pregnant, and friends John Light, 32, and Nik Moore, 31, from Essex.
30th April 1999: A homophobic terror attack kills three people and injures a dozen others at the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, when a nail bomb is planted on the premises. We remember the victims and survivors and all affected by this horrific event. #OnThisDay #Queerstory pic.twitter.com/jBrHboFtv9
— Gay Community News (@GCNmag) April 30, 2020
Copeland was tried at the Old Bailey in 2000 for murder after the prosecution refused to accept is guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
In 2011 he lost his appeal to reduce his minimum jail term of 50 years.
© 2020 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
Support GCN
GCN has been a vital, free-of-charge information service for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community since 1988.
During this global COVID pandemic, we like many other organisations have been impacted greatly in the way we can do business and produce. This means a temporary pause to our print publication and live events and so now more than ever we need your help to continue providing this community resource digitally.
GCN is a registered charity with a not-for-profit business model and we need your support. If you value having an independent LGBTQ+ media in Ireland, you can help from as little as €1.99 per month. Support Ireland’s free, independent LGBTQ+ media.
comments. Please sign in to comment.