March 23, 2017 | Sex & Society

The Daily Beast writer who outed Olympic athletes finally apologizes

Well, it only took seven months but The Daily Beast editor and writer Nico Hines is finally ready to apologize for a story he wrote about gay hook-ups at the 2016 Rio Olympics. (Hey, writing eight short paragraphs is no easy task!)

During the games, Hines thought it would be cool to use Grindr to trick gay athletes to meet up with him. He did not reveal he was a journalist working on a story. He did not reveal he was straight, or that he had no interest in actually "hooking up." In the resulting article, he shared details about some of the athletes that could easily identify them; worse, they were from anti-gay countries, putting their livelihoods -- and possibly their lives -- in danger.

The Daily Beast supported the article, choosing to remove any identifying details while defending the piece and the writer. But the backlash was so intense that the site finally agreed it was in bad taste and pulled it from its website. Hines disappeared, refusing to answer for his poor choices.

Well, he has finally come out of the shadows to apologize, 

In an editorial for The Daily Beast, he wrote:

"Seven months ago, The Daily Beast ran a story of mine that never should have been conceived, written, or published. For that, I am deeply sorry.

 

"Sexuality is an area that people should talk, read and write about—but private individuals’ sex lives are only legitimate topics when they're addressed with their consent or contribute to the public good. The story about athletes using dating apps in the Olympic village did not ask consent and did not advance the public good. The article intruded into the lives of people who had a right to be left alone. For some readers it brought up old, ugly LGBTQ stereotypes. And I didn't accurately represent myself during the reporting of the piece. These were all profound failures, and I’m sorry for them."