Prominent Florida
HIV/AIDS organization sues Boy George

South Florida's largest and oldest HIV/AIDS community care organization, Care Resource, has taken a big step forward in filing a lawsuit against performer Boy George and his booking agency, Red Parrot, the organization announced in a press release.

Care Resource is suing the performer over deposit funds that were never returned to the agency after his cocaine arrest. Care Resource signed a contract on June 6, 2005, for Boy George, through Red Parrot, to be the celebrity guest DJ on November 26, 2005, as part of White Party Week Miami, one of the worlds largest yearly HIV/AIDS fund-raisers.

The cost for Boy George's DJ services to appear was $12,000, plus $2,400 to Red Parrot for a booking fee. On August 4, 2005, a bank wire transfer went through to an HSBC bank in London for $8,400, which covered half of Boy George's fee as the deposit and the entire booking agency fee.

Boy George was arrested October 7, 2005, on drug charges, but in correspondence with Red Parrot just one week after his arrest, George's booking agent, Johnston Pearce Walker, assured Care Resource that "George will still be keeping to his scheduled contracted DJ dates," Care Resource reports in the release.

Care Resource went on to report that on November 2, 2005, three weeks before he was scheduled to DJ, another e-mail was received from Johnston Pearce Walker, this time stating, "It is with regret that Boy George is not going to be able to DJ at the White Party. We have been instructed by his management that we have to cancel his engagement on this date. This now means that we have had to cancel 11 USA dates. If you would assist us by giving us 14 days we would very much appreciate it. We want to ensure that everyone gets their money back and try to put this mess behind us."

Since that date many e-mails, letters, and phone calls have been placed to the agency; all have gone unanswered.

"The $8,400 that Boy George and Red Parrot took from Care Resource would have paid the cost of primary medical care for nine of our patients for a full year," Rick Siclari, Care Resource executive director, said in the release. (The Advocate)