An Arabic network has apologized for
publishing a “gay shame” list of celebrities which incorrectly
included Daniel Radcliffe and Cameron Diaz.
The Dubai-based Middle East
Broadcasting Center (MBC) reaches roughly 150 million Arabic speakers
worldwide.
Radcliffe, who is not gay, and Diaz,
who has only said she's attracted to women, are listed among openly
gay celebrities such as Neil Patrick Harris, Ellen DeGeneres and
Ricky Martin in a so-called “list of gay shame” from a show
called Scoop with Raya, which
is hosted by Raya Abirached.
The
article also incorrectly claimed that Elton John wore a wedding dress
when he married David Furnish.
MBC
apologized in a statement, saying the story “by no means was
reflective of the site's editorial policy nor point of view,”
according to the UK's The
Independent.
“[W]ithout
prior verification of the facts of the story [a junior editor]
plagiarized from another official site,” the broadcaster explained.
“Regretfully,
the editor in question had plagiarized the news off another Arabic
website without factual verification of the article, therefore going
against two of the major pillars of journalism: cross checking the
validity of the news; and discrediting and not attributing the actual
site from which the news was retrieved, causing a ripple effect of
disciplinary action and investigative measures from the website’s
end towards the employee in question, who is now on probation, and
continues to investigate any other source that reflects the same with
such irresponsible behavior.”
The
original article can
be viewed here.