Infamous bathroom where George Michael was arrested for ‘lewd act’ undergoes radical transformation

It’s one of the most infamous public bathrooms in the world, becoming a pop culture pit stop and a local Beverly Hills landmark following British superstar George Michael’s arrest there in 1998. 

Since then, the Will Rogers Memorial Park men’s toilets would forever be remembered as the site where the singer was caught ‘engaging in a lewd act’, in an incident that would force him out of the closet.

Today, on the 27th anniversary of the scandal, DailyMail.com can reveal that the famed bathroom has now been demolished, with just one gray cinder block wall remaining at the lavatory-turned-iconic tourist attraction. 

On any given day, tour buses could be seen stopping at the public park, with hoards of people lining up to take photos and pose in front of the public toilet.

It became a must-see point of interest among tourists just as much as Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard, The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Golden Triangle, and Greystone Mansion, nearby. 

The men’s bathrooms at Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills became an iconic pop culture landmark following George Michael’s infamous arrest there in 1998. He is pictured exiting the bathroom months before his arrest  

At the time, the Beverly Hills Police Department had received complaints from locals and visitors alike of gay ‘cruising’ taking place at the public restroom. The singer is pictured there in August 1997 

New DailyMail.com photos show the famed bathroom has now been demolished, with just one gray cinder block wall remaining

The bathroom was included in TMZ’s famous guided tour of LA hotspots, with buses driving by hourly and guides directing tourists’ attention to the site where the British pop star was arrested. 

But new photos show the infamous restrooms are now nothing but a memory after they were razed to the ground to make room for new public toilets on the site. 

A sandwich board sign has since been erected at the park informing guests of the construction project that is set to be completed by mid-September 2025. 

Portable ‘Throne Bathrooms’ are available for use in the meantime. 

But it is the old, grungy, historic bathroom that fans of George, and tourists to the area will never see again.

The late Wham! singer, who died at 53 in 2016, was caught in a ‘lewd act’ in the restroom by a male plainclothes officer on April 7, 1998, forcing his sexuality into the open.

Though there were rumors Michael was gay, and he had publicly mourned the AIDS-related death of his close friend Anselmo Feleppa years earlier, the popstar had not yet come out publicly.

Up until now, the bathroom had become a popular tourist destination due to its association with Michael 

The British pop star was arrested in April 1998 after police launched a sting operation to crack down on people engaging in sexual encounters inside the public lavatory

DailyMail.com can reveal the infamous toilets are now nothing but a memory after they were razed to the ground to make room for new restrooms on the site

At the time, the Beverly Hills Police Department had received complaints from locals and visitors alike of gay ‘cruising’ at the restroom that sits inside Will Rogers Memorial Park, at N Canon and Lomitas Drive, directly across from the Pink Palace aka The Beverly Hills Hotel.

Police launched a sting operation to crack down on people engaging in anonymous sexual encounters inside the public lavatory, leading to Michael’s arrest. 

Michael, born Georgios Panayiotou, was 34 at the time and was taken to what he later said was the ‘nicest jail in the Western Hemisphere.’

Up until the famous arrest, the Grammy winner was best known for being one half of the duo from the group Wham! And his own string of number one solo hits, like Faith, Father Figure, and Freedom! ’90.

Men and women swooned for the handsome superstar and it was this undercover bust which led him to come out of the closet or reveal he was homosexual.

He gave interviews where he said initially he believed the word wouldn’t get out about his arrest, but realized when there were helicopters circling over his home in the upscale 90210 zip code. 

Though there were rumors Michael was gay at the time, the singer, pictured shortly after the incident, had not yet come out publicly

Months later, Michael took aim at the incident in his music video for Outside, where he appeared in an LAPD uniform

A sandwich board sign has since been erected at the park informing guests that the construction project will be completed by mid-September 2025

With newspaper headlines like ‘Zip Me Up Before You Go Go’ and the shock factor of a major celebrity being arrested for pleasuring himself in a dirty restroom in front of an undercover cop, media around the world went crazy.

After being jailed for three hours, he posted $500 cash bail and was released. At a later sentencing he was ordered to pay $810 fine and do 80 hours of community service in May of 1998.

He told CNN three days after the arrest: ‘I put myself in an extremely stupid and vulnerable position.’ 

He seemed to have a change of heart and lashed out at the incident with his music video for the song ‘Outside’ later that year in October.

In his first single since the arrest, the video showed couples of various sexual orientations engaging in lewd public activities while George, dressed as a police officer, danced in a public restroom that looked a lot like the one inside Will Rogers Park.

The video only magnified the interest in visiting the public toilet in the heart of Beverly Hills.

The iconic bathrooms have been temporarily replaced with portable ‘throne bathrooms’ during the construction project