Newspaper column on death of Stephen Gately sparks Twitter-fueled storm, deluge of complaints

Gately column sparks Twitter outrage, complaints

LONDON — Britain’s press watchdog says it has received a record 21,000 complaints about a newspaper column on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately after critics used Twitter to brand the article homophobic and insensitive.

Gately died Oct. 10, aged 33, while vacationing on the Spanish island of Mallorca. An autopsy found he had died of natural causes from fluid in the lungs.

Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir wrote that Gately’s death was “not, by any yardstick, a natural one” and said he died in “sleazy” circumstances.

Anger at the column swept social networking site Twitter, with actor Stephen Fry urging his 860,000 followers to contact the Press Complaints Commission.

The commission said Monday it had received “by far the highest number of complaints” in its history.