When Slate is shaming The Daily Beast for one of its stories, it’s clear someone must have done something stupid.
How the Daily Beast violated queer athletes, gay space, & journo ethics in one piece: https://t.co/KVO0oOYQOo pic.twitter.com/X2FGMjOGh9
— Slate (@Slate) August 11, 2016
An article published in The Daily Beast Thursday, in which (straight) writer Nico Hines described his walk around the Olympic Village while monitoring the gay hookup app Grindr and documented his offers of “dates,” would have been universally slammed as homophobic had a conservative site published it, but even The Daily Beast is feeling the heat.
This Daily Beast article outs gay Olympians on Grindr, then mocks them. https://t.co/5EI9gnQ4Qh via @FutureTenseNow
— Mohammed Abbas (@MohammedAbbas79) August 11, 2016
Slate notes that the “exceeding creepy” piece, which has since been edited to remove some personally identifying information, could prove dangerous, considering that many nations represented at the Olympics consider homosexuality a crime.
Here’s Tonga’s Amini Founa:
As an out gay athlete from a country that is still very homophobic, @thedailybeast ought to be ashamed #deplorable https://t.co/qzS9rDFJwx
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines You fucking disgust me. Do you realize how many people's lives you just ruined without any good reason but clickbait journalism?
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines Some of these people you just outed are my FRIENDS. With family and lives that are forever going to be affected by this
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines Seriously fuck off with your str8 white male privilege preying on closeted people who can't live in their truth yet. U ruin us
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines must think it's really fucking funny that he can do this shit without any consequences and go home to his family & kids unscathed
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
Imagine the one space you can feel safe, the one space you're able to be yourself, ruined by a straight person who thinks it's all a joke?
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines & @thedailybeast 1 of the guys you just outed is only 18 years old… I was 18 once & nowhere near ready to come out, fuck you.
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
Olympic medalist Gus Kenworthy wasn’t amused either.
So @NicoHines basically just outed a bunch of athletes in his quest to write a shitty @thedailybeast article where he admitted to entrapment
— Gus Kenworthy (@guskenworthy) August 11, 2016
@guskenworthy @NicoHines @thedailybeast such a dangerous and irresponsible article that did nothing other than potentially risk their lives
— Kevin Jesus (@GlobalJesus) August 11, 2016
.@guskenworthy @NicoHines @thedailybeast entrapment is right. There are athletes here from countries where being #LGBT is illegal (1/2)
— Alec Smidt (@amsmidt) August 11, 2016
.@guskenworthy @NicoHines @thedailybeast and punishable by death. #HowDareYou use an app that have given so many a connection to others(2/3)
— Alec Smidt (@amsmidt) August 11, 2016
Can someone .@thedailybeast please explain why on Earth's @NicoHines dangerous & homophobic article was commissioned let alone published?
— Nick Coveney (@nmjcoveney) August 11, 2016
Don’t ask us: progressives operate on a higher moral plane that we can’t hope to comprehend.
@guskenworthy @NicoHines The little troll didn't get any responses to his straight profile so he "had" to write about gay athletes
— CJ (@cjm314) August 11, 2016
The @NicoHines 'story' on Grindr and the olympics village is not journalism. It's trashy at best and incredibly dangerous at worst.
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) August 11, 2016
What @NicoHines has done is potentially extremely dangerous for at least one person in his article. @Olympics should revoke his credentials.
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) August 11, 2016
Story achieved totally dishonourably and will no doubt cause fear and alarm for individuals practically outed by him. He should be ashamed.
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) August 11, 2016
@StewartMcDonald @NicoHines given countries where being gay is against the law it could get someone killed & NO public interest @evastalker
— Colin Speirs (@dampscot) August 11, 2016
How The Daily Beast is not pulling Hines's deplorable piece, is beyond me. Pple can actually get executed for this. #Wtf
— Julio Daniel Díaz (@fesdiaz) August 11, 2016
When you’ve lost DeRay (who is gay, and openly so — no outing here) …
It is disappointing that the @thedailybeast published @NicoHines' story in the first place. That wasn't journalism.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 11, 2016
I generally like @thedailybeast. I've read the @thedailybeast's editor's response re: @NicoHines & it is insufficient.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 11, 2016
Daily Beast editor in chief John Avlon amended a lengthy note to Hines’ piece which is actually pretty humorous at points: “The concept for the piece was to see how dating and hook-up apps were being used in Rio by athletes,” he notes. “It just so happened that Nico had many more responses on Grindr than apps that cater mostly to straight people, and so he wrote about that.”
Alternate headline: Straight reporter can’t find date in Rio, pretends to be gay.
.@thedailybeast if you want a shred of respect back as a credible website, fire @NicoHines immediately
— Rachel (@homesickblues37) August 11, 2016
You have a pride flag in your header, take it down. You are not an ally, no ally would out others. @thedailybeast
— Hannah Montana (@Patrickrazzi) August 11, 2016
Can we all agree to boycott @thedailybeast? LGBT+ people aren't here to provide you with 'content' for your attempts at journalism.
— Hannah Armstrong (@HJP_Armstrong) August 11, 2016
There’s been nothing but Twitter silence from @NicoHines Thursday.
Update:
And … it’s gone.
Today, The Daily Beast took an unprecedented but necessary step: We are removing an article from our site, “The Other Olympic Sport In Rio: Swiping.”
…
Today we did not uphold a deep set of The Daily Beast’s values. These values—which include standing up to bullies and bigots, and specifically being a proudly, steadfastly supportive voice for LGBT people all over the world—are core to our commitment to journalism and to our commitment to serving our readers.
…
We were wrong. We will do better.
Related:
Transgender model Gigi Gorgeous tried to enter Dubai and she's the only one surprised by what happened next https://t.co/TUEza8unPE
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 11, 2016
