Bad Karma Chameleon

Audun Carlsen testified that Boy George, whose real name is George O’Dowd, handcuffed him to a bedroom wall and beat him with a metal chain after accusing him of hacking into his computer.

Calrson told London’s Snarebrook Crown Court that he met the one-time star through a Web site and went to his London home for a nude photo shoot. Boy George sent him a series of e-mails after the encounter accusing Carlsen of hacking into his computer.

Yet, he returned to Boy George’s flat for a second photo session several weeks later in April 2007.

Carlson told the jury that when he arrived, Boy George and another man held him down and beat him before the ex-Culture Club singer handcuffed him to a hook in the bedroom wall.

“George was slapping me and beating me and punching me and screaming things,” Carlsen testified. The escort managed to escape, running into the street clad only in his underwear, he said.

Boy George has had several brushes with the law and with drug addiction over the years. He was unable to secure a visa to tour in the U.S. earlier this year because of the pending trial, and in 2006 served a stint picking up New York City garbage after pleading guilty to making a false police report.

In the latter case, he allegedly called police to report a burglary of his Manhattan apartment. When the police arrived, they discovered no burglary but reportedly did find the Boy’s cocaine stash.