Boy George has withdrawn from his planned appearance as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium, days before his first performance on 3 August. His manager, Paul Kemsley, said the decision was made in the singer’s best interests and would allow the production to remain the focus, but did not give a specific reason.

George had been due to perform from 3 to 15 August as part of a rotating cast, with Richard Armitage reportedly covering the dates. The withdrawal follows criticism of George’s AI-generated pro-Israel song ‘We Will Dance Again’, which disputes descriptions of Israel’s Gaza campaign as genocide; the article notes that UN-appointed investigators and Amnesty International have reached that conclusion, while Israel denies committing genocide or war crimes.