Boy George Busted By Undercover Autograph Hunter

Boy George's troubles escalated this week when he was served with a writ for £36,000 by a lawyer who dressed up as a clubber and served him as he DJed in Manchester night club Essential.

"He was gobsmacked" a spokesman for legal firm Levy's told reporters. "As soon as we said 'you have been served with a statutory declaration' he replied, 'Oh!'. He could not understand it."

The Culture Club star now faces possible bankruptcy proceedings over the debt which court officials ordered him to pay to former Club GAY USA promoter Kasia Saleh in early November after she sued him for contributing to the failure of her venture. George had been booked to play at the club but cancelled after being busted for cocaine in New York in 2005.

Ocassional George collaborator Judge Jules was sympathetic to his plight however, telling Skrufff "He's a really nice down to earth guy who's been made to pay for being decent."

Jules said he also tries to sign as many autographs as possible, "although right in the middle of a set can take your focus away from DJing".

"The only time I don't (sign autographs) is if someone throws a pen at me or is rude or aggressive (which occasionally happens)," he added. "But apart from that, I try to oblige as much as possible."

Progressive tech-house type Paolo Mojo told Skrufff he takes a similarly obliging stance to autographs, agreeing "sometimes people will hand you something in the middle of a set which isn't always convenient, but to be honest I don't get too concerned".

"And if I'm in the groove I'll happily give it the large and sign things in the middle of a mix. I can't remember ever outright refusing to sign something," he said.

"In truth, I love it. I'm a closet pop star," Paolo continued, "I would love to have done a signing and stopped the traffic. However my voice and my looks let me down so Ive been forced to accept life as a travelling DJ.

"In actual fact, when I was playing at Womb in Tokyo earlier this year a guy approached me with a beaming smile and handed me a picture of me playing at Womb the previous year," he added.

"I happily scrawled all over it in marker pen, put glasses on my eyes, fake beard, you know the kind of thing. The chap looked really crestfallen as I handed it back to him and I was confused - he then meekly gave it back to me explaining the photo of me playing was a present for me."

While Jules admitted to hanging round Arsenal as a kid to get soccer player's signatures (some were more obliging than others), Paulo said he's never got autographs himself, even when meeting famous people in hotels when he's travelling.

"I stayed with Manchester United in the Shilla Hotel in Seoul this summer, and
I've bumped into literally Bjorn Borg, Richard E Grant and er, Nancy Del Oli recently in the first class check-in area at Heathrow," he said.

"Similarly I was stuck behind Sophie Anderton going through security earlier this year and she appears to be as stuck up as you would imagine. I'd probably still do her, though," he added, "Not for ten grand, mind you."

Paolo will be spinning (and signing autographs) at the London Social club at the Island this Saturday (November 24), the newly revamped venue that was previously known as Soundshaft. Joining him are James Talk, PK, Rene Amesz and more.

http://www.theisland-london.com

http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/celebrity/autographs (Celebrity autographs: 'Robbie Williams; £100, Kylie Minogue, £75)
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• boy george
• judge jules
• womb
• paolo mojo