George Michael: Outed review – The lack of remorse from those who wrenched star out of the closet is staggering

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. That incident, and the media frenzy that ensued, is the subject of Channel 4’s heart-wrenching yet frustratingly incomplete documentary, George Michael: Outed. The two-parter, which arrives seven years after Michael’s death aged 53, combines never-before broadcast audio of the singer with extensive interviews with his cousin Andros Georgiou and Michael’s long-time partner Kenny Goss. 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. The comments from the journalists who outed Michael come in stark contrast to those from today’s prominent gay musicians, such as Olly Alexander and Will Young, who are appalled by the Nineties headlines they read.