George Michael’s friend and former Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley has blasted Channel 5 over a documentary about the late singer.
Andrew branded ‘The Last Days of George Michael’ a “sensationalist and mucky piece of voyeurism”, ahead of it airing on the channel on Thursday (23 March) night.
The documentary claimed to chart the days leading up to George’s death on Christmas Day 2016, and take a look at the outpouring of grief from fans.
However, Andrew called the decision to air it before his funeral “insensitive, contemptuous and reprehensible”.
Tweeting Channel 5’s official Twitter account directly, he raged: “@channel5_tv to conceive such a sensationalist and mucky piece of voyeurism may be par for the course for you…”(sic)
The singer continued: “The decision to air before George Michael’s funeral is insensitive, contemptuous and reprehensible.
“You might have the had decency to schedule post funeral and after a respectful period.”
After the show aired, many other viewers echoed Andrew’s sentiments, also sharing their thoughts on Twitter:
A Channel 5 spokesperson insisted the documentary was “measured”, telling HuffPost UK: “George Michael was a high profile public figure and there has been legitimate public interest in the circumstances surrounding his death, which have already been widely reported across the news media.
“‘The Last Days of George Michael’ is a measured account of the days preceding his death in December and of his musical career and his personal life, including his philanthropy, based on contributions from those who knew him and reported on him over many decades.
Earlier this month, a coroner’s report finally confirmed the singer died of natural causes, after his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz found him dead at his home on Christmas Day.
It was revealed the 53-year-old suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver, which led to his death.
Because there was a “natural cause of death”, the coroner also said there was no need for an inquest.
