A straight journalist is under fire for using Grindr to essentially out closeted gay athletes in Rio.
Nico Hines has been covering the Olympics for the Daily Beast. As part of his reporting, he thought it would be hilarious to create a fake profile on the dating app then see just how many gay athletes were cruising for sex between games.
Hines was shocked to learn that Rio has become, in his words, “a hotbed of partying athletes, hookups, and sex, sex, sex.” Particularly gay “sex, sex, sex.”
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While he didn’t call out any of the men by name, Hines did share quite a bit of identifying information about them, including what sports they played and what countries they were from.
Naturally, a lot of people weren’t pleased with Hines’ stunt, calling it homophobic, irresponsible, disrespectful, and dishonest:
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
Can someone .@thedailybeast please explain why on Earth's @NicoHines dangerous & homophobic article was commissioned let alone published?
— ?????????Nick Coveney????????? (@nmjcoveney) August 11, 2016
Unless queer outing is now an Olympic sport, can we just all agree that @NicoHines piece is outright homophobia? Needs to be withdrawn.
— Josh (@JoshDixonTweets) August 11, 2016
Exploiting LGBTI lives for amusement is trash "journalism" at best and extremely dangerous at worst. #Shameonyou @thedailybeast @NicoHines
— itsonlyzach (@itsonlyzach) 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
Bobby Finger at Jezebel called the article a “breathlessly written account of someone who appears to think gay sex is as mysterious as the prehistoric origins of Tilda Swinton.” And Mark Joseph Stern at Slate called it “a uniquely disgusting and irresponsible entry into the tired genre,” accusing Hines of taking pleasure in “luring in these Olympians then outing them to all the world.”
“But the offensive purpose of Hines’ article is really the least of its problems,” Stern adds. “Far worse is the actual damage it will likely cause to real, live human beings—inevitable consequences that Hines blithely ignored.”
That outrage sparked the Daily Beast to update Hines’ article by removing the athletes’ identifiable information and issuing a statement that reads, in part:
A number of readers complained to The Daily Beast after the publication of the original iteration of this story. We take such complaints seriously because a central part of The Daily Beast’s mission is to fight for full equality and equal treatment for LGBT people around the world. Publishing an article that in any way could be seen as homophobic is contrary to our mission.
…
Some readers have read Nico as mocking or sex-shaming those on Grindr. We do not feel he did this in any way. However, The Daily Beast understands that others may have interpreted the piece differently.
Accordingly, we have made some editorial changes to the article, responding to readers’ concerns, and are again sorry for any upset the original version of this piece inspired.
For his part, Hines has yet to respond to the controversy. But he did tweet about the long lines at McDonald’s in Rio yesterday:
Little bit of rain won't put these athletes off the huge snaking McDonald's line. True Olympians pic.twitter.com/zhYD6KUpCm
— Nico Hines (@NicoHines) August 10, 2016
Related: She Said ‘YES!’ Rio Volunteer Pops Question To Her Olympian Girlfriend
jdboston617
Wow. What a pathetic gross man. I hope no one hires him again and his computer is hacked for every personal detail about this monster. Where’s the Anonymous Hackers when you need them.
crowebobby
Someone needs to stay on this assholes tail until they can publish something he doesn’t want the world to know . . . hopefully something that’s a jailable offense.
DDstar1me
What’s with this constant obsession with gay people at these Olympic games? The media and it’s need for drama is disgusting.
LucasH
Absolutely infuriating. F this guy. Shame on him, shame on his editors, shame on the entire f**ing publication for writing this.
Paco
What a jerk.
But then, I never understood how a closeted guy could expect to remain closeted for long using such public apps as Grindr. The community has a lot of overlap with sexual partners, and if you are known for something, guys will brag about it to others.
lordrenly
Anybody have a link to the original article?
Stache
Yeah, newsflash. Young and fit people are sexually active too. WTF is the news in that? This is homophobic
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
He should be made to follow through with these hookup athletes running a train or relays…batons and vaulting poles optional. Now THAT would be edgy gonzo journalism
redcarpet30
He’s an asshole, but I have to admit I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people on Gridr, a PUBLIC service, being “outed”.
With that said, this isn’t new. 2012 had reports of how active Grindr was in london. Young fit people in a stressful situation want to fuck! A good portion of them are gay or bi. It’s been true since humanity began, its been true at every Olympics (we just didn’t see it on TV). Why this guy needed to write yet another breathless pearl clutching article is beyond me.
Maybe this guy was just jealous he couldn’t join in.
Sansacro
Maybe he hooked up with a few to complete his “heterosexual” “research.”
Alistair Wiseman
Naturally, what Queerty has failed to disclose is that the Daily Beast was founded by arch-liberal Tina Brown and still continues to be a left-wing website.
Good job, Queerty. You are consistent.
oregonduckbrad
Total douchebag, ASSHOLE move. Way to go, Beast, for supporting this absolute shite.
woodroad34
@DDstar1me: Well, I’ll bet that it’s just amazing that gay people can be as athletic and “butch” as straight males. I’ll also bet that Nico Hines couldn’t get a date on snatch.com or whatever the Grindr analogue is for straights.
DCguy
@Alistair Wiseman: Stated: “Naturally, what Queerty has failed to disclose is that the Daily Beast was founded by arch-liberal Tina Brown and still continues to be a left-wing website.
Good job, Queerty. You are consistent.”
See, this is how the Log Cabin Rabid Anti-lgbt group continues to lie. Nothing about the actual topic, just some post about what victims they all are.
Oh, and what you left out, is that Tina Brown left the magazine a few years ago, and the new editor in Chief, John Avlon Is a former Speech-writer for Rudy Giuliani.
OH NO, DID FACTS RUIN YOUR LITTLE ATTEMPT AT PRETENDING ANTI-LGBT GOP FOLKS ARE VICTIMS?!
Oh, and Alistair, you still have never responded to the question of “What policies in the GOP are supportive of LGBTs”. Just a reminder.
Hussain-TheCanadian
We don’t know people’s circumstances, or why they remain in the closet. Coming out is a personal decision; their life as they know it, their livelihoods, and god knows what else maybe on the line, and its not this “journalist” or anyone has the right to out them – UNLESS they are some Anti-gay hypocrite like so many politicians and clergyman.
Mack
@redcarpet30: From someone’s else input on this very story, the people being outed were people from countries where being gay is illegal. He posted their country, their stats, their event but not their names. It doesn’t take much to figure it out. And when they get home, they could face a great deal of problems. So these wasn’t your normal “Grinder” patron, these were people who have a great deal to fear when they get back to their home country.
whirlaround
Privacy matters, and this man invaded the privacy of others. If he had been investigating corruption, perhaps it would be justified. It is long in the past when sexual activity between men was considered corrupt.
Paco
Anyone can sign up for Grindr for any reason. If anti-gay bigots really wanted to, they could use Grindr as a gay registry to out closeted men in their countries. If you need to be in the closet, then Grindr is probably not the safest or most private place to be looking for hook-ups.
But yeah, it should never be ok for a “journalist” to do something like this. It isn’t wrong or salacious to be gay, and this guy needs to be smacked down so it is known that what he did is not acceptable at all.
GG
The article refers to him as ‘straight.’
How do we know that?
John
I would think Nico Hines is too interested in gay sex and probably using this as a cover for his own exploits. See if he doesn’t come out in a few years. Many who do douche things like this are just fighting their own insecurites. Nico= Douche!
Blackceo
This is slimy as hell.
Brian
Grindr is not just for gay-identifying men. Grindr is simply a means of finding men for some fun. It might even be a straight-identifying man who is looking for some fun with another guy. Maybe even a straight-identifying journalist?
In any case, it’s all a bit tacky, don’t you think?
Brian
Men are horny. If women don’t put out, men will seek sexual play with other men. In this world, there is no such thing as gay, straight or bisexual. It’s just what men do.
Historical homophobia reflects a desire to suppress this natural horniness of men and, yes, their ability to turn to other men for sex play even if they are not particularly inclined to men.
goofyjoemoore
I wrote a letter to the editor, but I do find it a little ironic that Queerty can run an article like this and two clicks later I can be staring at Olympics bulges.
dwes09
@DCguy:”Oh, and Alistair, you still have never responded to the question of “What policies in the GOP are supportive of LGBTs”. Just a reminder.”
Nor will he respond, because the answer is obviously NONE, and there is no way to deflect or distract. If anything he will simply imply that as progressives we must be tolerant of the right’s desire to oppress and marginalize.
TroisBoi
So the Daily Beast wrote an apology. The so called apology was weak at best…………….”We apologize but……..” REALLY?????
If you’re going to apologize for offending a “small” group of readers, as they put it, then APOLOGIZE!!!!! I never ceases to disappoint me that our world is still so simple minded.
everybodywinsyay
Relax, hypocrites. This same sort of story was on here about gay prostitutes during the RNC. Calm down when a story doesn’t go with the saintly gay image.
Alistair Wiseman
@DCguy:
Do you have a problem with reading comprehension?
And you wonder why I don’t respond to your “posts”.
Dave Downunder
It sucks that their is no legal repercussions for this kind of irresponsible reporting. He should have the book thrown at him and made to cease being a journalist. He could have placed people in real harm by outing them depending on their cultural and religious circumstances.
Kangol
@everybodywinsyay: You really are clueless, aren’t you? THE RNC IS ANTI-GAY! Its policies and platforms are anti-gay. They are actively trying to take away the rights that the “gay left” fought for you and ever other right-winger to enjoy.
That is completely different from outing closeted or DL people who aren’t harming anybody, but could suffer imprisonment or death if they are outed at home. But then supporters of your GOP/RNC want to stone or kill gays, so are you ignoring that? Sheesh!
o.codone
Fire that liberal hypocrite twat.
o.codone
@Kangol: Please remember it’s not just the GOP/RNC who wants to stone or kill gays, it’s Hillary’s friends the mu slims, whom she will bring here in scores who also want to kill and stone gays (or throw us off rooftops). So, how do you manage to vote for a woman who is doing this to gay communities? Orlando was not enough for you, you want more because you’re a liberal democrat. It’s just suicidal. Stupid. Self destructive.
martinbakman
@Alistair Wiseman: Their political leanings are irrelevant. The Daily Beast fvcked up. I’m done with them.
CarlIsle
Hopefully some of the athletes will sue Nico and the website. Teach the scum a lesson.
DanO
Maybe not a good idea for Queerty to also publish some of the details of the athletes, even if it’s has been edited down. You’ve quoted the Slate, but they made clear they wouldn’t post the information of the athletes, which at this point is the responsible thing to do. Especially as the Daily Beast article has been taken down. Continuing to publish this information, even as part of a condemnation of the original article, continues to feed in to this utter bullshit ‘journalism’. I’d suggest you remove this information asap
DanO
Thank you for removing the athletes information so quickly. For the record I celebrate any piece which condemns that piece of shif idiot and the Daily Beast
arc_btm
This reporter is straight?? Ohh please, for all i know, this reporter is a closet case ready to burst his outing bubble anytime soon. So you guys be prepared to read his “outing revelation” soon.
Sluggo2007
He needs to be gay “spit roasted.”
Nahald
Why is it that Straight people need to know everyone who’s gay or not ? They just seem so fascinated with everyone’s sexuality, which btw, is a private matter. I cannot wait for the day when “coming out” is NOT a thing any longer and being gay is considered just as “normal (For straights that is) as not being gay.
Nahald
@CarlIsle: They should. Just who’ds business is it anyway ?
Nahald
@everybodywinsyay: Interesting that you seem to be straight, yet you are here. Still closeted are you ?
DCguy
Oh, and you sure knew the reporter was straight. How? Because he made SURE to put that right at the top of the story. Don’t want to be mistaken for an icky Gay now would he?!?!
DCguy
@Alistair Wiseman:
You tried to lie and I busted you on it, and I called out that you can’t support your own comments.
Yeah, I get why you are afraid to try to respond.
Stilinski26
Lol no way he was using Grindr just for some cheap trashy journalism he wanted some bareback action I bet!
Brian
I find it a bit rich that gay-identifying men are complaining about this. The gay pick-up scene is one great big open dining room that anybody can enter. Gays love this – it increases their chances of finding a partner.
I say the more the merrier.
Mo Bro
I find the insistence on labeling him as straight to be rather heterophobic.
DCguy
@Brian:
Brian, the funny thing is, it’s obvious that is what you want so like to project it.
Your comment is the same as saying “I can’t believe women are complaining about this, after all look at a place like Hooters.
@Mo Bro: What a shock, the Log Cabin Trump supporter attacks gays and defends an article that harms then.
b2rocketfan
There are places in the world where being gay can get you harmed and hurt really badly. Some of these guys may have to go back to governments or neighbors who will be on the attack. This guy needs to learn a thing or two before putting that kind of thing into the world for an ignorant and unnecessary story.
batesnight
I thought the journalist had cleared up that wasn’t his intention to offend and corrected it. I didn’t see anything wrong with his article either, so not sure why some people had their panties in a wad.
Sexy1887
There is a guy name Fern he used me and this guy used me he needs to be stop. So can someone stop him his last name is Beaulieu
He use is guys on here and he hangs out with a 15 to 20 year olds and he is 49
Sexy1887
He is on grindr