Elan Gale's epic Twitter fight with a fellow U.S. Airways passenger has been revealed as a hoax.
The producer with ABC's "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" was flying to Los Angeles on American Thanksgiving when his flight suffered a delay, according to his tweets. He then began live tweeting, under the user name @theyearofelan, what he described as a distraught passenger arguing with airline staff over missing Thanksgiving with her family.
Gale's tweets eventually made headlines around the world after he engaged the distraught passenger, whom he identified as "Diane," in rounds of passive-aggressive note passing.
The exchange provided Twitter users with plenty of entertainment but Gale's latest tweets reveal he may have made the whole thing up. On Monday night, Gale tweeted a photo of "Diane," only to show an empty chair.
In less than a day, Gale's exploits went viral and critics were quick to shame him as "sexist" and heartless towards someone -- fictional or otherwise -- who was in distress.
Salon questioned the legitimacy of the whole thing from the get-go and described the incident as sexual harassment. Mary Anne Franks, a professor with University of Miami School of Law described his actions as a "narcissistic and casually sexist reaction" on HuffPost Live.
For his part, Gale shrugged off the remarks on Twitter, saying he was just providing entertainment on a slow news day.
The Huffington Post Canada has reached out to both U.S. Airways and Gale to clarify the matter. Neither have responded to an interview request at the time of publication.
Have Gale's recent admissions changed the way you felt during the fight? Let us know in the comments below.
The producer with ABC's "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" was flying to Los Angeles on American Thanksgiving when his flight suffered a delay, according to his tweets. He then began live tweeting, under the user name @theyearofelan, what he described as a distraught passenger arguing with airline staff over missing Thanksgiving with her family.
Gale's tweets eventually made headlines around the world after he engaged the distraught passenger, whom he identified as "Diane," in rounds of passive-aggressive note passing.
The exchange provided Twitter users with plenty of entertainment but Gale's latest tweets reveal he may have made the whole thing up. On Monday night, Gale tweeted a photo of "Diane," only to show an empty chair.
So many questions unanswered about Diane. In 15 minutes I will post the photo and hopefully we can resolve all this
— elan gale (@theyearofelan) December 3, 2013Here is Diana sitting in a chair pic.twitter.com/OE5q7j8dhr
— elan gale (@theyearofelan) December 3, 2013Whoops. Meant Diane. Great time for a typo
— elan gale (@theyearofelan) December 3, 2013In less than a day, Gale's exploits went viral and critics were quick to shame him as "sexist" and heartless towards someone -- fictional or otherwise -- who was in distress.
Salon questioned the legitimacy of the whole thing from the get-go and described the incident as sexual harassment. Mary Anne Franks, a professor with University of Miami School of Law described his actions as a "narcissistic and casually sexist reaction" on HuffPost Live.
For his part, Gale shrugged off the remarks on Twitter, saying he was just providing entertainment on a slow news day.
I conclude by saying hopefully a few people got a few laughs over a slow Thanksgiving weekend
— elan gale (@theyearofelan) December 3, 2013The Huffington Post Canada has reached out to both U.S. Airways and Gale to clarify the matter. Neither have responded to an interview request at the time of publication.
Have Gale's recent admissions changed the way you felt during the fight? Let us know in the comments below.
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