Daily Beast Author of Gay Olympians on Grindr Story Sent Home, IOC Condemns Story as ‘Unacceptable’

After Being Nearly Universally Public Denounced Nico Hines Recalled From Olympic Village

The Daily Beast has sent home its London editor Nico Hines, after the politics and pop culture website had published his obscenely offensive and possibly life-threatening look into gay Olympic athletes using hookup apps like Grindr. Hines’ piece provided enough details so that some might have been able to identify closeted athletes, even though some, as he even wrote in the since-removed article, were from very homophobic countries.

It is illegal to be LGBT in nearly 80 nations, and in ten of those the death penalty exists as its punishment. In others, local religious authorities or even mobs carry out “justice” against gay people, which can include stoning to death or throwing the perceived gay person off the rooftop of a building to his or her death.

Outsports’ cofounder Jim Buzinski reports the International Olympics Committee has denounced The Daily Beast’s story as “simply unacceptable.” He notes that the IOC “indicated in an email to Outsports that the writer, Nico Hines, is no longer in Rio.”

“We understand the organization concerned recalled the journalist after complaints and withdrew the story,” an IOC spokesperson told Outsports on Sunday. “This kind of reporting is simply unacceptable.”

It’s unknown if Hines has returned to London, or if he’s still somewhere in Rio, or elsewhere, but Buzinski surmises that The Daily Beast recalling Hines was likely an attempt to “forestall the IOC taking any more action.”

Meanwhile, although The Daily Beast removed the offensive piece after outrage and uproar, and apologized, Hines has not. Many feel The Daily Beast’s actions remain insufficient.

One openly-gay Olympic athlete who was not in Hines’ article blasted him via Twitter and accused him of endangering lives. Two-time Olympic athlete Amini Fonua tweeted: “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?”

 

Image by Mark_JH via Flickr and a CC license