Independent Media | Campaigning Journalism
The Daily Mail is torn apart for wrongly claiming a man at a drag ball was a world leader
The Daily Mail is being widely ridiculed after publishing an article on 8 March claiming a man in drag was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In an article asking if the Canadian PM is the “world’s most PC politician”, the Daily Mail included an image they claimed was Trudeau in “face slap”. It was, however, seemingly a photo of US-based writer Brian Gresko at a drag ball in the 90’s.
Flattered
Gresko was surprised to see himself featured in the story. The writer joked about the error before demanding the photo come down as soon as possible.
The article is still online, but the picture has been removed:
Hey @DailyMailUK I’m flattered you think I look like @JustinTrudeau but that photo you claim is PM Trudeau in drag is actually me, circa 1998, Oberlin College Drag Ball. That photo needs to come down ASAP!! And an apology would be great too. pic.twitter.com/bGVbDsAYPk
— Brian Gresko (@briangresko) March 9, 2018
“So apologies”
The article had gained some traction online before it was amended. But plenty of people tried to correct the Daily Mail’s mistake. After the image was removed, the Daily Mail’s Tom Leonard gave an apology. But Twitter users didn’t appear satisfied with it. Leonard said it was an error, before adding “So apologies”:
And this is the “apology” pic.twitter.com/xORLRY7IXr
— hippersons (@hippersons) March 9, 2018
The innacuracy shocked many, but some Canadians appeared to think that this was not an unusual day in the life of the The Daily Mail:
I find myself somewhat bemused at all of the Canadian journos who are aghast that the known fabulists at the Daily Mail got stuff wrong (including photos) in their Trudeau hit piece.
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 9, 2018
“Gay Baiting”
LGBT activists also questioned the motives behind the image. Twitter users claimed the article was “gay baiting”.
@StopFundingHate ICYMI Daily Mail features photo of Canada PM Justin Trudeau in drag. Only problem? The picture is not him! Pretty much gay-baiting See attached tweet below https://t.co/R9RwgrY0DI
— G.T. Lem (@gtlem) March 9, 2018
Trudeau hasn’t joined the Twitter debate himself yet. But people are scrutinising the Daily Mail once again after this, in relation to the ‘gay-baiting’ claims and the error.
Despite how amusing the mistake was for many on social media, serious questions do need to be asked.
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