‘I feel sick to my stomach’: George Michael fans share disgust over how he was treated after watching Outed

George Michael fans have been sharing moments the Wham! icon acted with grace and kindness, and expressing their horror at his treatment by the media, in response to the new Channel 4 documentary Outed.

The two-part documentary, which aired its second episode on Wednesday (7 March), looks back on the fallout after the pop superstar was arrested for lewd conduct in a Los Angeles public toilet in 1998, where he was cruising for sex with men.

A four-star review of the series in The Independent stated: “Twenty-five years on, journalists from The Sun, the News of the World and US gossip rag Splash all give interviews with a staggering lack of remorse. ‘Your misfortune is our fortune,’ says Splash’s founder, Kevin Smith, as he proudly recalls the publication’s motto.

“Fleet Street was not a gay-friendly place at the time either, with one Sun journalist saying of Michael’s humiliation at the hands of the papers: ‘What did he expect?’

“There is a particularly icky moment when one paparazzo and one editor, almost drooling with excitement, reminisce about one of their car chases in pursuit of Michael, and their nine-page exposé on his cruising habits. Michael’s response? His 1998 hit ‘Outside’, which transformed what the papers called his ‘shame’ into a defining moment of gay liberation.”

After watching the documentary, some fans took the opportunity reminisce about the singer’s powerful legacy. “George Michael was someone who served meals to the homeless every Christmas Day,” tweeted one person. “Who once left a ‘tip’ for a barmaid to cover her nursing studies. Who rang Noel Edmonds after watching Deal or No Deal to say, ‘Tell the contestant I’ll pay for her IVF.’”

Another posted: “I’ve shared many, many times my love of George Michael and stories of how he secretly supported the hospice I worked at. I adored him. He was genuinely good, people. I’ll never forgive the British press for what they did. Watching George Michael: Outed and I feel sick to my stomach.”

Others also shared their disgust at the media’s treatment of the star in the Nineties.

“After watching George Michael documentary, got me remembering the headlines I read as a kid. I couldn’t cope with the shame and guilt of being gay and turned to drink and drugs. I doubt those writing such utter s*** ever thought about the harm they were doing,” posted one person.

“The absolute shamelessness of the gutter hack on George Michael: Outed trying to rationalise his ghoulish and homophobic delving into the cause of death of [Michael’s former partner] Anselmo [Feleppa] as being in the public interest,” wrote another.

One tweet read: “Just watched George Michael: Outed and it is so brilliant how he turned the tables on the media and owned his story, while making it ABUNDANTLY clear that he wasn’t ashamed and would not apologise. Because why should he? Then he immediately released ‘Outside’ as a massive f*** you. HERO.”

Another viewer wrote: “Despite the screaming headlines: SHAME! George did not feel ashamed, he was not ashamed. He refused to feel that. And it told all the tabloids to shove it, his response. It was magnificent. He was magnificent.”

Michael sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades.

He died of heart failure on Christmas Day 2016, aged 53.

George Michael: Outed is available to watch in full on All 4 now.