Sun's shower of homophobia

The latest instalment of The Life and Times of Jade and Jack is to be found in a Sun story so full of homophobia it makes you wince. Tweed flees naked Boy George in jail shower propagates the notion that all gay men are sex mad, unable to control themselves, and always interested in younger men.

As this story is based on that most reliable of sources - 'a pal' - it's almost certainly not even true.

Jack apparently 'turned tail and ran from the showers in prison — after THREE encounters with naked gay star Boy George.' Notice he's 'naked gay star'. They don't say 'naked straight Jack'. He's naked because he's in the shower. And why does he have to 'flee', as the headline says?

'Shy Jack, whose Big Brother star wife Jade Goody died of cancer last month, repeatedly met beefy George...George, 47, who stands 6ft, is said to be an intimidating figure for young prisoners at the jail.'

Note how 'beefy' (sigh) George only intimidates 'young' men. And let's not forget Jack is serving his second prison term for a second violent assault, so let's cut the 'poor shy intimidated Jack' crap.

'A pal told The Sun: Jack knew what Boy George was in jail for and didn’t want to take any chances.'

'Take any chances'? What does that mean? George was convicted of beating an escort with a chain. Why did Jack think that was going to happen? Well of course, that isn't what is meant here, they are implying every cliche about jail showers is true.

The pal says:

'Jack isn’t exactly the most comfortable person when it comes to getting attention from other men. As soon as he saw Boy George was standing there naked having a wash he was gobsmacked.'

The use of the word 'gobsmacked' is entirely deliberate, and only emphasises this is probably made up. But who said Jack was 'getting attention' from him anyway? All the story says is he saw George in the shower.

The story also mentions George was 'wiping himself down' (yes, he's in the shower!) and that there was 'fleeting eye contact', which suggests something far more erotic than ever actually happened.

More likely, the Sun found out that Jack and George might be serving time close to each other and invented the whole story to make George seem like a sexual predator. Because, in their mind, that's what all gay men are.

[EDIT (8 Jun): Two weeks later, The Sun admitted it was total fictional bullshit]