Outsports reports:

The International Olympic Committee has condemned as “simply unacceptable” a since-deleted story on the Daily Beast where a straight reporter posed as gay on Grindr to do a feature on sex at the Olympics. The IOC indicated in an email to Outsports that the writer, Nico Hines, is no longer in Rio.

“We understand the organization concerned recalled the journalist after complaints and withdrew the story,” an IOC spokesperson told Outsports today in an email statement. “This kind of reporting is simply unacceptable.” It’s the IOC’s first response since the controversy broke on Thursday.

It could not be immediately confirmed if Hines is still in Rio. However, his last story on the Daily Beast‘s website was Aug. 9, two days before his story about Olympics sex was posted. He also has not tweeted since Aug. 10, a day before the story appeared. An email to the Daily Beast concerning Hines’ status has not been answered as of now.

Over 9000 signatures have been gathered to have Hines fired.  But in all honestly that would be a sacrificial goat for the Daily Beast who in reality not only shares the guilt with Hines but is even more guilty for allowing the article to be published in the first place.  The Daily Beast which was founded in 2008 is not a blog. It is a legitimate news source which was part of of Newsweek for sometime. The DB has 21 million unique visitors – a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.  It is a legit news site that can afford to send “journalists” to the Olympic and around the world but obviously cannot or will not properly vet their work.