Pop stalwart George Michael has told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs of continual marijuana use.
The former Wham! star and gay icon was interviewed on the BBC program, choosing the eponymous "desert island discs" and discussing his marijuana use, hiding his sexuality, and his brushes with the law.He told presenter Kirsty Young, "I'm constantly trying to smoke less marijuana. I'd like to take less and to a degree it's a problem." Yet the longtime cannabis advocate denied that his drug habit was detrimental to himself or others, "Is it a problem in my life? Is it getting in the way of my life? I really don't think so. I'm a happy man and I can afford my marijuana so that's not a problem."
Michael admitted that he felt like a fraud while hiding his sexuality and claimed that the incident where he "exposed himself" to a police officer in California in 1998 was subconsciously deliberate. He said, "In a strange way I've spent the last 15 to 20 years trying to derail my own career."
"I suffer like crazy," he continued, "I've suffered bereavements and public humiliations, but my career always seems to right itself like a plastic duck in the bath. In some ways I resent that."
His musical choices included Gnarls Barkley, Amy Winehouse, Roxy Music, Nirvana, Goldfrapp, Kanye West, and Rufus Wainwright. The episode of Desert Island Discs will be repeated on BBC Radio 4 on Friday October 5.
