Why is the media obsessed with the age of Stephen Fry’s fiancé?
One of the trending stories of the day is the announcement that actor and presenter Stephen Fry has announced his engagement to stand up comic Elliott Spencer, but some media outlets seem to be obsessed with highlighting the age gap between the two.
While some reports focussed on the fact that a prolific gay entertainer has got engaged, and did not play on the shock value of pointing out the age gap, others most certainly did.
Despite most reports congratulating the pair, many still pointed out the age gap.
PinkNews ran with the headline: “Stephen Fry engaged to marry stand-up comedian Elliott Spencer”, highlighting Spencer’s job title, and avoiding the temptation to sensationalise the story.
Others, such as Sky News, the BBC and TIME all wrote headlines reflecting the fact that Fry and Spencer are marrying.
–
–
–
Others, such as the Metro focussed on the length of the ‘whirlwind romance’, rather than the ages of those involved.
But some, such as The Mail, Telegraph and Attitude Magazine all included the couples’ ages in their headlines, or mention of the age difference.
NB. Attitude has updated its headline to: “Stephen Fry to marry partner Elliott Spencer”.
The Express went even further to dub Spencer a “toyboy”, and Fry’s “lover” as well as pointing out their ages.
Fry, who had been hoping for a private wedding, confirmed the speculation this morning, saying: “Oh. It looks as though a certain cat is out of a certain bag. I’m very very happy of course but had hoped for a private wedding. Fat chance!”
Despite reports that the couple only met a few months ago, Spencer tweeted in August 2013 saying he had taken part in a quiz with Fry.
Home from a quiz – my team members included Stephen Fry and Daniel Radcliffe!
— Elliott G Spencer (@ElliottGSpencer) August 11, 2013
