The tabloids have repeatedly mentioned that Fadi Fawaz is already scared by the death of Boyzone’s Stephen Gately. Learn the truth about Fadi’s involvement with Stephen Gately’s death.
In 2012, Fadi posted a picture on Twitter of Stephen Gately and himself with the caption, “wish u were still with us.” Stephen, a singer in the popular Irish boy band Boyzone, died in October 2009 at the age of 33 in his sleep due to congenital heart defect.
After the death of George Michael, the tabloids surfaced the 2012 tweet to highlight Fadi’s previous involvement with a celebrity death.
The Sun published the piece “George Michael’s heartbroken lover Fadi Fawaz already scarred by death of Boyzone’s Stephen Gately” on December 28, 2016.
The Sun’s article was an attempt to establish a pattern emerging of people (mostly rich celebrities) dying in their sleep from previously “unknown” heart conditions when around Fadi. It capitalized on the apparent “connection” between Fadi and Stephen, however flimsy, and hinted at the similarities of Stephen and George Michael:
- Both are gay
- Both are high-profile and popular musicians
- Both are still in the prime of their lives when they died (Gately at age 33 and Michael at 53).
- Both died in their sleep
- Both died from heart failure
- Both knew Fadi (never mind that the only photo of Fadi and Gately is the one that Fadi posted on Twitter)
Stephen Gately died in his sleep in Mallorca, Spain with husband Andrew Cowles. The death of Stephen attracted significant media attention, most of which focused on who were with the couple the night that Stephen died. It was found that a male model from Bulgaria named Georgi Dochev was with Stephen and Andrew on the night that he died. There were no reports whatsoever — whether from the most credible newspaper publications to the trashiest of the tabloids — that Fadi was anywhere near or with Gately the night that he died during that holiday vacation.
The insinuations in the tabloid were enough to push some readers to jump to the false conclusion that Fadi was around when both George and Stephen died in their sleep. On the basis of that one photo, Fadi was drawn and quartered for being responsible for Gately’s death. Here are some of the comments in that article from The Sun:
Many people also took to Twitter to comment on the supposed involvement of Fadi with the death of Stephen:
Even months after George Michael died, there are still Twitter users who mistakenly believe that Fadi was involved in the deaths of Gately and Michael.
Fadi had no connection with Gately other than knowing him. Fadi was well-known as a hairdresser, who worked with celebrities such as Katherine Jenkins, Emily Blunt, Naomi Campbell, Pussycat Dolls, among others. It can only be expected from the type of clientele he was working with that he met and mingled with a lot of celebrities, including Stephen.
There was no evidence linking Fadi to Stephen other than that one photo. However, the tabloids used that photo in an attempt to establish a pattern and create a cloud of suspicion on Fadi. It sets the stage for laying the blame of George’s death on Fadi should the police investigation find proof of criminal activity.
