Boy George reports for garbage duty

AP - Singer Boy George tried out a new look - a street sweeper's orange vest - as he reported for his first day of community service with New York's Department of Sanitation.

And it wasn't long before he got into a confrontation with the media.

The one-time Culture Club singer, told by a judge that he must decide whether his court-ordered community service would be an "exercise in humiliation or in humility", was ordered to spend five days as a garbage worker after pleading guilty in March to false reporting of an incident.

As he went about his duties, the singer was swarmed by reporters and photographers while he stood at a Lower East Side Street. He used his broom to sweep dust and leaves into the lens of a video camera.

"You think you're better than me?" he yelled. "Go home. Let me do my community service. This is supposed to be making me humble. Let me do this," he said. "I just want to do my job."

Shortly before that, his manager, Jeremy Pearce, told reporters: "He doesn't show any kind of emotion about these things. He takes it in his stride."

"He doesn't need to be humiliated. He's a humble person," Pearce said earlier, calling the judge's remarks "an unfortunate comment."

Boy George's workday began at 7am, as a sport utility vehicle pulled up at a Lower East Side sanitation depot. Boy George, who wore dark pants, shoes without socks, a black sweat shirt and black wraparound sunglasses, walked inside without speaking to reporters.

About a half-hour later, he emerged from the building, flanked by camera crews, and got into a sanitation van. With about seven cars following the van, he was driven several blocks and went into a small building with a sticker on the door that read, "NYC Recycles".

He came out again wearing the bright orange vest with yellow stripes, bearing the words "New York City Department of Sanitation", placed an empty rubbish bin in the back of the van, and was taken to the street, where his sweeping was interrupted by the confrontation with reporters.

"Things outside in the street were a little chaotic," said Sanitation Department spokesman Keith Mellis. "We'll see if there's some cleaning that can be done inside."

The singer, born George O'Dowd, has struggled with drug problems for years. He called police with a bogus report of a burglary at his lower Manhattan apartment last October, and the responding officers found cocaine inside.

In June, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Anthony Ferrara issued a warrant for the singer's arrest when he initially failed to complete the requirements of his plea deal. When O'Dowd appeared in court 10 days later, Ferrara warned the singer he could not escape his community service commitment.

"It's up to you whether you make it an exercise in humiliation or in humility," Ferrara told O'Dowd, known for his androgynous appearance and hits like Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?

Defence lawyer Louis Freeman said the judge's annoyance was "based on a misunderstanding".

O'Dowd, 45, initially envisioned a service project more in line with his status as an '80s icon.

He petitioned to spend the time helping teenagers make a public service announcement. Among other proposals to the court were for him to hold a fashion and makeup workshop, serve as a DJ at an HIV/AIDS benefit or do telephone outreach.