Derek Chadwick, co-founder of the gay dating app Goose, has left the company, saying its direction no longer aligns with his original vision.
Launched in June, Goose marketed itself as a rival to Grindr, distinguishing itself from the dating and hookup app for gay and bisexual men by emphasizing genuine relationships and connections, according to Attitude.
Goose’s official Google Play description says the app allows gay men to “discover guys through shared places, interests, friends, and moments happening around you.”
Users can “wave” at one another on the app. If two users wave at each other, they are connected and can begin chatting.
On its website, Goose calls itself “the gay app, not just for dating,” where users can “[m]eet guys through the life you already have: places, friends, interests, stories, and what’s happening nearby.”
Images on Goose’s website suggest that users can post profile pictures, share temporary updates about their activities, and “check in” at local businesses, restaurants, and other venues.
Chadwick, an actor whose credits include The Sex Lives of College Girls, Hashtag Proposal, and A Jenkins Family Christmas, announced in an Instagram statement that he had left Goose the previous week.
“As of last week, I’ve stepped away from Goose. … Where I landed is that my vision for where this should go and the direction the company is going aren’t the same thing anymore. When my name and my face are on something, I want to be able to stand behind all of it, fully. As that stopped being true, staying didn’t feel right.
“Although I’m no longer involved with Goose in any capacity, I wish the team the best — there are great people over there working incredibly hard to make Goose special,” he continued. “To everyone who joined, who waved, who sent me a message, who told me they actually made a friend on there, thank you. That was always the whole point for me, and it still is.”
He concluded with a cryptic teaser: “I’m not done building for us. More soon.”
Chadwick’s departure came six weeks after WIRED published an investigation alleging that many Goose accounts and social media users promoting the app were not real.
WIRED alleged that many of the faces used to promote Goose were linked to low-usage accounts with abnormal follower-to-following ratios. Some appeared to be connected to Instagram accounts, but an analysis of the photos associated with those accounts — specifically those that promoted or linked to Goose — determined with greater than 90% confidence that “most or all of” the Instagram photos were AI-generated, according to AI Image Detector software and Google Gemini.
The investigation also discovered that an account tied to Goose co-founder David Aliagas was advertising “ambassador” positions on Instagram and offering money for “finstas,” or fake Instagram accounts. WIRED spoke to several gay men who had interacted on Instagram with apparently AI-generated accounts that encouraged them to sign up for Goose.
The magazine noted that it is not unusual for brands and developers to “surreptitiously use AI-generated influencers to promote their products.” It cited a recent investigation by The Guardian in which a former celebrity manager who now creates such accounts estimated that “40 percent to 60 percent of the content out there from some of the big brands” is artificially generated — despite not being identified as such.
In response to Chadwick’s announcement, a Goose spokesperson issued a statement to Attitude.
“As Goose enters its next phase of growth, Derek Chadwick will be stepping away from his role as Co-Founder,” the statement reads. “We are grateful for Derek’s leadership and vision that he has brought to the company and the foundation he has helped build. Goose remains focused on its long-term strategy of building a trusted community and we will share further leadership updates when appropriate.”
Police in Commerce City, Colorado, have arrested an e-bike rider who allegedly hurled homophobic slurs at a gay couple before shooting and critically wounding one of the men.
The apparent road-rage shooting occurred around 9:30 p.m. on August 1 near the victims' apartment complex on East 62nd Avenue. One of the men told police he was driving with his husband in the passenger seat when two e-bike riders cut them off.
The driver told detectives that he honked and flashed his lights at the riders, who began following the car while shouting anti-gay slurs and other derogatory remarks at the couple, according to a police affidavit.
Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee and the Democratic nominee for Florida governor in 2018, has been arrested in Alabama on drug possession charges.
As first reported by TMZ, Baldwin County jail records show Gillum was arrested around 11:44 p.m. on July 2 in Daphne, Alabama, on charges of possessing dangerous drugs, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. He was released the following day.
It remains unclear what "dangerous drugs" Gillum is accused of possessing.
The 46-year-old could face up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine if convicted of the marijuana charge, a Class A misdemeanor under Alabama law.
Canada will lift restrictions that have prevented some gay and bisexual men from donating sperm by eliminating questions about recent anal sex from its screening process.
Health Canada, the federal department responsible for national health policy, said that beginning this fall, potential sperm donors will no longer be asked whether they have recently had anal sex with a new partner or multiple partners. Instead, all donors will be rigorously tested for infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Supporters of the change argue that asking whether a donor has engaged in anal sex does not accurately measure risk because it fails to account for condom use or preventive medications such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The screening questions also did not distinguish between donors with new or multiple partners and those in monogamous relationships with HIV-negative partners.
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