The Miami Herald’s Dan Lebatard is cringing at the thought of TMZ’s sports wing, scheduled to open up shop this year, in part because he thinks a closeted gay athlete will be their No. 1 target.
One of the first orders of business at TMZ Sports, rest assured, will be to out a gay male athlete. It is the only boundary left to cross. It will either wreck that athlete’s life or make him the next Jackie Robinson or maybe both.
That’s a pretty horrible thing to do to someone against their will, obviously.
But an outraged America will punish the behavior by showering it with views, dollars and rewards.
He might be right (about TMZ outing an athlete), but the head of TMZ is a gay man and I’m not sure he’s keen on outing people.
The column also makes me wonder what Lebatard knows. It’s clear he wouldn’t out an athlete. Is he hiding a secret? Or is the better question, how many athletes’ secrets is he hiding?
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 3:09 PM
I’m ok with outing hypocritical pastors and lawmakers, but not closeted athletes (unless, of course, they are outspokenly bigoted). As a gay man who has to stay closeted to keep his job, I have a lot of compassion for them, and I do everything I can to create a safe space for everyone.
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Harvey Levin is gay. He lives with his partner, who is a chiropracter in Cali, so why would he out athletes? I guess Perez does, so why not him?
Outing an unwilling gay athlete hardly sparks a Jackie Robinson-like feel.
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 3:54 PM
My guess is that they would only out an athlete if he was arrested or something and his being gay was somehow part of a story. Doubt they would simply out people to out people. And with the mainstream media, they generally require people to declare they are gay before labeling them as such (see Weir, Johnny).
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 4:14 PM
I think that we should out only those who are active in our destruction. Who fight us on our rights. Who are hypocritical.
But I am conflicted. I see a point to outing even those who have done us no harm. And I am a hypocrite since I was in the closet so long. But, famous people who refuse to stand up and say this is who I am, this is who We are, well they could be just as detrimental as the man advocating the usurpation of our rights.
Rock Hudson was a great actor, loved him in Giant, but until he died we never knew. It shocked my Grandmother. Made her think about it. What if a Favre or a Montana were found out to be gay. These amazing “he – man” types that millions of men admire would force them to look at us in a different way.
If these men men were gay, and they are not I am just making a point, they are preventing a real discussion of who we are. What we do. How we live. THey are preventing a discussion on the multifaceted part of us. They are allowing millions from all parts of the country to assume that we are just a minority relegated to certain areas and certain places.
I don’t like the idea of outing, but I understand it.
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 4:22 PM
What’s “men men”?
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 4:35 PM
Men was supposed to be once, typo.
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 9:36 PM
First, we still don’t really know if there’s going to BE a TMZ Sports. They haven’t announced it officially yet, have they? Here’s my comment on the “TMZ soon to follow athletes” post on this blog: “Let’s see if they actually start this venture up. All they’ve done, according to the reports I could find — one is here: http://bit.ly/6tgSrF — is register the domain name. That article also says they were supposed to do something similar, focusing on Washington, D.C., but they never followed through.”
Second, he writes that comment near the very end of his screed about “old media/new media” and gossip but gave absolutely no evidence or even a valid reason for that to happen. Why would TMZ out an athlete? Unlike tabloids such as the National Enquirer, they haven’t outed any Hollywood types. Wouldn’t they have done so by now? If they don’t out actors, singers, etc. why would they out athletes?
on Mar 9th, 2010 at 12:22 AM
Dan’s brother is gay, (but not into sports)
Dan knows a few things u can be sure esp becaus he gets the gossip from SOBE and FLL. Dan “created” the “Tim Hardaway scoop”
dan has aspirations and a need for fame and trying to make a friend he is aiming himself to get the scoop by creating a situation or waiting for one to fall in his lap
on Mar 9th, 2010 at 5:41 AM
Hey, Tiger Woods worked out alright for TMZ!
But Harvey Levin’s TMZ hasn’t outed a Hollywood celebrity, so I don’t really see any evidence that Dan’s is a well-grounded concern.
I’m sure TMZ sports will be all over the other scandalous aspects of athletes’ lives: drugs, guns, women, etc.
He’s more likely to focus on guys like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, who really don’t have a whole lot printed about their personal lives. Yes, you might hear about who they’re dating from time to time, but they don’t generally get the full paparazzi treatment like Hollywood stars.
That’s about to change, I’m sure.
on Mar 9th, 2010 at 7:09 AM
The big question is whether TMZ sports will put Outsports out of business.
on Mar 9th, 2010 at 11:59 AM
Famous actors and atheletes don’t really get outed by media outlets. TMZ doesn’t do it even Perez doesn’t do much “outing” anymore.
Deadspin might do it if the person is really obvious and reckless like Jamal Anderson but that’s about it.
on Mar 9th, 2010 at 4:07 PM
I think whether this proposed TMZ Sports “outing” is bad or not totally depends on the circumstances of the particular story. For instance, outing a gay sports star who is accused of sexually harassing a male employee, a al Rep Massa right now, would be totally fine – the alleged harassment would be part of the story.
OTOH, outing a sports star who simply keeps his/her private life quiet and does not spout anti-gay crap, totally out of bounds.
What I would like to see from the media, though, is some honesty with regards to LGBT famous people. The Hollywood media famously would not “out” Neil Patrick Harris or Lance Bass. Yet both were involved in obvious same-sex relationships, with tabloid and blogger coverage galore. How many times did we see pics of NPH and his fella out walking their dog? But the mainstream media would not cover it. With Bass it got even worse. The bloggers at Towleroad were criticized for “outing” him after he spoke with at least one of them, knowingly, while in line with his boyfriend at a popular Provincetown gay bar. I think at that moment, Bass was pretty much out.
The media needs to get past the idea that even suggesting someone is gay or lesbian is an “attack,” and report honestly. That goes the same for any sports star who is as open, say, as NPH was before his actual self-outing.