Arts & Entertainment
Straight reporter uses Grindr to find gay Rio athletes for article
Nico Hines potentially endangers closeted competitors
The Daily Beast reporter Nico Hines used hook-up apps like Grindr to find gay Rio athletes.
The Daily Beast reporter Nico Hines examined the gay hook-up app culture in the Olympic Village in Rio in an investigative story posted on Thursday that some readers believe could be “incredibly dangerous.”
The story follows reports that 450,000 condoms have been supplied to the 10,500 athletes in Rio where dating and hook-up app usage is at an all-time high among athletes in general.
Hines, who is married to a woman and has a child, decided to investigate the phenomenon by looking for gay athletes on Bumble, Grindr, Jack’d and Tindr. He noted that he found the most success on Grindr and found three dates in an hour. His investigation reported that men asked him for naked pictures and were interested in meeting for sex “before 5:30 in the evening.”
He says he “confessed to being a journalist as soon as anyone asked who [he] was,” but never revealed he was a straight man. In the article, Hines insists he didn’t pretend to be someone he’s not “unless you count being on Grindr in the first place.”
Although Hines never identifies the athletes by name, he describes them by their height, weight and nationality. The descriptions have raised concerns for those athletes from countries where LGBT individuals have no legal protection against anti-LGBT violence. Brazil also has one of the highest LGBT murder rates in the world, according to OutRight National International.
Readers were not intrigued by Hines’s journalism and were instead alarmed and outraged.
Heaven forbid gay men have sex at the Olympics. Not like straight men are doing it too, but why dig into that when you can mock and demean.
— Ira Madison III (@ira) August 11, 2016
Can someone .@thedailybeast please explain why on Earth’s @NicoHines dangerous & homophobic article was commissioned let alone published?
— Nick Coveney (@nmjcoveney) August 11, 2016
ANY journo using gay hookup apps as a source of content – really think about whether it’s going to change the world, or merely titillate.
— The Guyliner (@theguyliner) August 11, 2016
The @NicoHines ‘story’ on Grindr and the olympics village is not journalism. It’s trashy at best and incredibly dangerous at worst.
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) August 11, 2016
The Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief John Avalon included an editor’s note at the end of the piece saying that due to a large number of complaints the story had been edited to protect the athletes’ identities. Avalon also apologized for the controversy.
“The concept for the piece was to see how dating and hook-up apps were being used in Rio by athletes. It just so happened that Nico had many more responses on Grindr than apps that cater mostly to straight people, and so he wrote about that,” Avalon writes. “Had he received straight invitations, he would have written about those. He never claimed to be anyone he was not, did not offer anything to anyone, and immediately admitted that he was a journalist whenever he was asked who he was.”
Despite the backlash, Avalon says The Daily Beast still stands by the story.
“Some readers have read Nico as mocking or sex-shaming those on Grindr. We do not feel he did this in any way. However, The Daily Beast understands that others may have interpreted the piece differently,” Avalon concluded.
The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Washington Blade held its 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Friday, May 16. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke along with State Sen. Russ Huxtable, CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey, Blade Editor Kevin Naff, and Clear Space Theatre Managing Director Joe Gfaller. The event raises funds for the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which was awarded to AU student Abigail Hatting.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.
Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”
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