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Gawker faces backlash for ‘disgraceful’ outing article

By Kevin Long

Media news and gossip site Gawker has come under fire from Twitter users after publishing a story that outed a rival media organisation’s CFO, who allegedly attempted to solicit a gay porn star for ‘2-3 hours’ in a hotel room in Chicago.

The business leader – who is married and has three children – was allegedly put under pressure by the escort, who wanted him to use his influence to help with a housing dispute. The CFO had extended connections to Barack Obama, which the escort – given the pseudonym Ryan in the article, as Gawker chose to protect his identity – found out after uncovering his identity online.

Gawker Logo

The story broke late last night and has since sparked a huge backlash from readers and media commentators, who have accused Gawker of engaging in ‘reprehensible’ and ‘disgraceful’ journalism. Others have slammed the site for ruining the CFO’s life for ‘no good reason’:

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/621873669472710656

https://twitter.com/kevinroose/status/621846667810115584

Even some of Gawker’s staff are distancing themselves from the story.

https://twitter.com/AdamWeinstein/status/621851862141128704

Not everyone finds issue with the article. A senior writer for popular feminist blog Jezebel – itself owned by Gawker Media – tweeted support for the piece, citing the ‘truth’ as a defence for publishing it.

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/621912490696282112

Gawker has often walked a fine line when it comes to gossip content, and was previously criticised for outing Anderson Cooper in 2009. Responding to the online backlash, Gawker’s Editor-in-Chief had this to say:

https://twitter.com/max_read/status/621855300509925376