Daily Beast withdraws ‘gay baiting’ reporter from Rio
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Sunday that they understood the publication has recalled Mr Hines after complaints were made about the story.
The IOC also added that Mr Hines’ story, in which he used apps such as Grindr to identify gay athletes, was “simply unacceptable”.
The Daily Beast has yet to comment or confirm that it has recalled Mr Hines from Rio.
Although the story – “The other Olympic sport in Rio: Swiping” – has since been removed, it rose to notoriety last week when it reported the high numbers of casual sexual encounters among athletes.
More worryingly, was Hines’ inclusion of characteristics that could have resulted in closeted athletes being exposed.
In a number of instances, this included competitors from countries that discriminate against members of the LGBT community.
The criticism resulted in the original article being changed initially, before eventually being removed. It was replaced with the line: “We were wrong. We will do better.”
In a longer apology, published on Friday, the publication said: “We were wrong. We’re sorry. And we apologise to the athletes who may have been inadvertently compromised by our story.
“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.”
Tongan swimmer, Amini Fonua, who is openly gay, was one of the athletes to lead the charge against the Daily Beast.
After a number of strongly worded social media messages, he posted a picture of his rear to Instagram with the line, “kiss it and f**k off”.
