Boy George has been pulled off a West End performance days before he was set to take the stage as his manager scrambles to minimise backlash to a pro-Israel song.

Earlier this week the former Culture Club frontman released “We Will Dance Again”, which featured the opening line “you say genocide, I said war, when you’re attacked, that’s what the army is for”.

He goes on to describe Israel’s assault as having got “ugly”, before saying that it has done so because he “knows you want to kill every last one of us,” referring to Jewish people living in Israel.

The release led to fierce backlash against the English singer. His manager, Paul Kemsley, has now released statement saying he has made the decision to pull Boy George from a scheduled run in Andrew Llyod Weber’s Jesus Christ Superstar.

He was set to play King Herod – a one-song cameo role that’s being rotated – from August 3 to 15.