Well, as I said yesterday, not all the details from yesterday’s newspapers seemed to be entirely correct.  Now that both George and Kenny have officially issued statements or given quotes to the press, people have started to speculate on the reasons why the story appeared in the first place.  Was it to somehow “get at” George?  Or is there another explanation?

Here’s one possibility that I think people aren’t giving enough weight to… You see, it really wouldn’t be a complete surprise if George’s team had planted that story themselves to get a bit of publicity for the forthcoming DVD release.  What’s my evidence for this?  It’s two-fold…

Firstly, as I said in  the blog yesterday, not many people would describe Andy Stephens as being “loyal” to George.  In fact, I’m pretty sure the only person who would ever use that particular adjective about Andy is Andy himself, suggesting he might have been a co-author of the story.  Other people allegedly use descriptions of Andy like “very unpleasant to work with”, and  “out only for his own self-interest, at the expense of George’s interests”. So, when George got serious about conquering the world on his recent tour, George allegedly relegated Andy to the position of “Bag Carrier To The Star, With Special Responsibility For Opening The Mail & Firing UK-Based Staff”, and re-hired Michael Lippman and his US-based team to be his real management representation.

Secondly, the story in the papers mentioned the Live DVD / Blu-ray Disc release more than once, suggesting that letting the public know that George would be releasing a DVD in time for Christmas was the main purpose of the publishing story.  That, again, is consistent with the story originating from George’s own PR team.

So, there you have it… just my two cents…

Not sure all the details in the paper are entirely accurate. I mean, describing Andy Stephens as “loyal”?  Won”t you give me break, somebody give me a break…

Also, I really don’t think George plays video games 15 hours a day -  not now that the new season’s TV shows are back on the air.

Still, at least they managed to work a few mentions of his forthcoming Live in London DVD into the article, including getting the release date correct – Dec 7.

In recent days, I’ve noticed many so-called fans of George Michael telling him to “get a driver”.  Well, I hate to break it you – but George Michael already employs a driver.

Do you think George drives his cars to be washed and valeted himself?  Do you think George drives his dogs to Hampstead Heath himself?   Do you think cars fetch themselves when George is out somewhere and decides he wants to go for a drive, or to use a different car than the one he has with him?  No. That’s what drivers are for.

The point is this: you don’t buy Ferraris, or Aston Martins, or Jaguar/Mercedes/BMW convertibles if you don’t like driving cars yourself. So, George likes cars; he likes driving them; and even the best drivers have accidents sometimes…

Towards the end of 2010, when the world will hopefully be coming out of recession, George Michael is planning a new live show.  The question is this – will these live performances be about playing newly released music for the first time, or will they be another greatest hits show, like “TwentyFive Live”, to coincide with the release of his autobiography?

Photos of George Michael’s crashed Range Rover have now emerged. The photo above shows the near-side of the car i.e. the passenger side.  The photo below shows the near side i.e. driver’s side.

Looking at the photos, two things are clear: first, that the reports in the press, including quotes by the driver of the lorry involved in the accident are inaccurate; second, the reason why George escaped without serious injury is that the passenger compartment was essentially undamaged in the accident.

From the photos, it’s obvious that this wasn’t  a “rear end shunt”, as described in the press.  Nor was the left side of the car destroyed, as reported by the press. Rather, the car and the truck were in collision from the side, causing damage to the front near side of the Range Rover. It appears the passenger compartment of the car was largely undamaged in the accident, with the driver’s side of the car being almost totally unaffected.   It could have been caused by the truck moving on the road to hit the Range Rover, or the Range Rover moving on the road to hit the truck.

In the wake of George Michael’s recent car accident, the tabloid press are searching for eye witnesses to provide them with quotes.  This is interesting because George said that his view is that the lorry driver caused the accident.  However,  the lorry involved was part of a convoy of trucks: so the question is – how many of the eye witnesses quoted didn’t belong to that convoy?  The witnesses aren’t credible if they have the same employer.

Aside from the potential lack of credibility, though, some of the quotes the papers have got don’t make any sense.  Take this example, from today’s Sunday Mirror…

Sean Strong, from Scunthorpe, Lincs, said: “He was all over the road – he was driving like crazy. He swerved past my artic so closely that he just missed me. He was shouting and screaming at the passenger seat. I just knew the guy was not safe and that he was going to crash, which he did a mile or two later. I am surprised he walked away from it. He was going at some speed”

George was shouting and screaming at the passenger seat?!  Why?  Was he angry with his invisible friend?  Or does he just not like the seats in his Range Rover – Fuck you, seat! Fuck your perforated leather!  Fuck your piping!  Fuck off seven way motorized adjustment! You aren’t a seat – you’re a fucking CUNT! No you’re worse than that, you’re an ANDROS! ?

I dunno. It just doesn’t sound right to me.  I’d be interested to see quotes from from independent eye witnesses who: aren’t truck drivers all from the same employer; don’t know each other; and haven’t been paid for their stories.

George Michael has released a statement about the crash he was involved in with a lorry on the A34 a little over ten miles from his house in Goring.  In the statement, he says,

“I don’t want my fans or my family worried by what they are reading all over again”

He also sheds some light on why the lorry driver might have said the things he is reported to have said (which I pointed out earlier didn’t seem particularly believable, or even possible). George says,

“We both think the other is to blame so this is just an insurance fight.”

Bottom line is – George’s side of the story is that he was in total control of his car at the time of the accident; and that the driver of the lorry is the one that caused the accident.

How should George Michael deal with this latest driving accident?  Easy.

He must go on the next series of the BBC’s Top Gear and be the “Star In A Reasonably Priced Car“.   He can do a light-hearted interview with Jeremy Clarkson and talk about cool cars he’s owned like his Aston Martins and now his Ferrari California; cars he’s totaled like his BMW Z4 and his Range Rover; and cars he’s had stolen – like his Aston, his S-Class Mercedes. So – lots of car stuff to cover. Then, Clarkson can make some of his trademarked jokes about prostitute-murdering lorry drivers, and George can agree and say he was only trying to do a public service by trying to take out a whole convoy of trucks.  Then, we can see George’s lap in the cheap car – he can tell Clarkson that he’s doesn’t care about the lap time except that he wants to beat Geri Halliwell’s time.    Then they can show some joke “out-takes” on laps where George falls asleep at the wheel.

Job done.

George Michael has allegedly been arrested again after yet another driving incident. This time, unfortunately, it’s reported to be much more serious – a high-speed crash involving his Range Rover and an articulated lorry (a large truck).  At the time, George was near his home in Goring, rather than his home in Highgate, London where the driving incidents have occurred historically.  Fortunately, no-one – including George – appears to have been hurt.  Reports suggests his car was a wreck, with the passenger side of the vehicle having been completely destroyed.

After the accident, a large number of police officers attended the scene, and George was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs. Police held George for five hours, and then released him without charge – so presumably all the tests were clear.  Reading the reports it seems pretty likely the cause of the accident was a repeat of the “usual problem” of George becoming disorientated and not knowing where he is or what he’s doing.

This from The Mail:

Laurie Rowe, the driver of the lorry, said:

‘He seemed completely disorientated, like he had no idea what was going on. He looked totally dazed and even tried to climb into the cab of my lorry. He kept saying he was worried he would go to jail.’

Michael, 46, crashed into the lorry on the A34 in Berkshire in the early hours yesterday.

Mr Rowe, from Scotland, said he saw the silver Range Rover weaving from one side of the road to the other in his rear view mirror moments before the collision occurred.

The impact of the crash was so great the lorry driver feared Michael was dead.

‘He hit me so hard that it knocked my rear axle two feet up in the air,’ he said. When I stopped the lorry and got out to see what had happened, I didn’t think he would have survived.’

This report from The Sun has more information:

His 4×4 twice bounced off the central reservation of the A34 near Newbury, Berks, before coming to a stop in the middle of the road just after 1am yesterday.

The motor was a write-off and the gay singer – described as “away with the fairies” – survived by a miracle.

Shocked George climbed out of the wreck and tried to beg a lift in Lawrie’s cab.

Lawrie of Middlesbrough, said: “I was driving at 45mph in the inside lane when I saw a car come speeding up behind me, its lights on full beam.

“It must have been doing about 100mph and was weaving all over the place as if it was overtaking and undertaking. It smashed into the back of my cab and I felt a hell of a thump.

“His car went spinning across the outside lane and into the central barrier before bouncing back into my cab. He then hit the barrier again.”

“I pulled over and called the police and ambulance. “There was no movement from his car for what seemed like ten minutes. I was really shaken and thought someone had died.

“The Range Rover’s bonnet was sticking up, the front panels were missing and all the windows were shattered.

“There were big scrape marks along the full length of the vehicle. It was blocking the road.

“Eventually the guy got out of his car. He came over to my cab and asked if I had stopped to give him a lift. I was stunned.

“He was absolutely not with it, so I told him no. But he insisted and came around the other side of the truck and tried to get in the passenger door.

“When it finally dawned on him that I wouldn’t give in, he walked off down the verge.

“He was quite merry and wanted a lift but didn’t say where to. He was wearing glasses, a black baseball cap, a tight-fitting black T-shirt, black trousers and Crocs shoes. He carried a satchel.”

Dazed George walked about 1½ miles down the verge before other truckers stopped him and made him wait for the police to arrive.

Clive Butterfield, 48, who was driving the truck in front of Lawrie’s said: “How he got out alive is beyond me. It’s a miracle.

“The left side of the Range Rover was non-existent. He walked up and asked for a lift. We said he had to wait for the police.”

Driver David Hooper, 50, added: “He was strolling along a dual carriageway, totally away with the fairies.”

Lawrie said: “When police arrived I said the guy looked like George Michael. They told me it was. He couldn’t walk in a straight line.”

But drug tests on George at a police station proved negative. He was released at 6am. Police said 14 officers went to the scene.

If these reports are even close to accurate, George is clearly lucky to have escaped injury or even death.  I think the time has now come for George to consider if it makes sense for him to drive late at night -  it appears he has not resolved whatever medical problems he has during his two-year driving ban.  With this latest incident occurring so soon after getting his driving license back, it’s clear that, unless he changes his behavior,  he’s going to kill or injure himself or a third party at some point – possibly soon. Fortunately for George, he was in his Range Rover this time, rather than, say, his new Ferrari.  The Ferrari would not have protected him as well as the Range Rover did, and could have accelerated much more rapidly after going out of control.

It should be noted that a a spokeswoman for George claimed he had not been arrested.  However, this story has been reported by the BBC and quotes the police commenting on the arrest – so I think we can safely assumed the spokeswoman was simply unaware of the crash.

It’s also more than possible that the media and/or eye-witnesses have fabricated and/or exaggerated parts of the story. For sure, it would be unusual for someone to:

• Crash into the back of a lorry at 100mph
• Have the car be a wreck
• Appear to be dead for ten minutes
• Then just get out of the car and walk away with no injuries.

So my guess is that there’s some inaccurate reporting going on (as well as some unimaginative gay “jokes” – “rear-ending truckers”, “away with the fairies” etc… Yawn…).  The facts of the story, as far as I can tell, are thin on the ground at the moment. What seems to have happened is:

• George crashed his Range Rover (he doesn’t own a Land Rover, BBC) into a lorry
• George was unhurt in the incident
• No-one else was hurt in the incident
• There were no drugs and no alcohol in his system
• He was questioned by police and released without charge

Anyway, perhaps more details will emerge at some point.  Can’t see George wanting to comment on this particularly. Really hope he’s OK…

Hi Everyone, this is Rem.  I’m told that George is worried sick about one of his best friends at the moment (has been for a while now).   Out of respect for the privacy of all involved, I won’t comment on the details.  Hope the situation improves soon.

Requests for apologies for blabbing should be made to the usual suspect. Oh Kay?