Matt Lucas slams BBC for stereotyping gay men
Comedian Matt Lucas has hit out at the BBC – after current affairs show Newsnight joked that notorious hook-up app Tinder allows straight people to “behave like gay men”.
Openly gay TV host Evan Davis was presenting a segment last night on the company’s surreal Twitter meltdown this week – after Tinder’s official account ranted at a Vanity Fair journalist who wrote an unflattering story about the app.
The app is open to people of all sexualities – but Newsnight opened the segment with a joke about it allowing straight people act like gay men.
Over the top of a Disneyesque animation, the host’s voiceover said: “For the uninitiated, Tinder is the biggest of a number of apps that allow straight people of any gender to behave like gay men.
“It’s an easy hook-up service. You upload your profile, and scroll through others, to find someone to meet.
“It’s love at first swipe. Swipe left for the ones you don’t like, swipe right for the folks you’re interested in.. and then if the feeling’s mutual, you can message eachother and take it from there.”
The comedian – who portrayed gay character Daffyd on Little Britain – weighed in on Twitter, saying: “Pathetic from the BBC.”
The joke was presumably directed at gay dating app rival and early pioneer Grindr – but some seemed unamused by the connotations.
One Twitter user wrote: “I hate to be THAT guy, but you do a segment about Tinder, and you choose THIS as the intro. What the HELL”
Others admitted to being “baffled” by the joke.
