Aaron Hernandez was outed on a radio sports talk show just two days before he hanged himself. Investigative journalist Michele McPhee went on "The Kirk & Callahan" show to talk about her book on the Boston marathon bombing, and then wound up talking about rumors regarding Hernandez's sexuality because it was "so juicy." They
made a bunch of shitty sports puns, saying he was "a tight end on and off the field" and later became "a wide receiver" and that he "played with both feet." Two days later Hernandez hanged himself in his prison cell, and McPhee took her bullshit rumors to a wider, more respected platform, Newsweek. She later followed it up with a post sensitively entitled
"I Think I'm Gonna Hang It Up LOL" to expose Hernandez's alleged "prison boyfriend" who was put on suicide watch after Hernandez's death. By the way, her report that Hernandez left a third letter to the alleged prison boyfriend is also unverified.
Callahan, the co-host of the radio show, said he was proud "the sexuality angle" was first explored on his show. McPhee was equally pleased with herself for breaking the story and bragged about her big scoop, but she was hardly the only person who had heard these rumors. Boston Globe senior deputy managing editor said they had passed on the story because they were
unable to verify it. Gay advocates were angered by the story. And Kelly McBride, a media ethics specialist, said this: "I don’t believe the purpose of the radio conversation or the Newsweek piece was to shed any more understanding on the factors that influenced Hernandez.
There was harm and no benefit."Source
