James Faulkner’s social media gaffe
This entry focuses on the post by Australian cricketer James Faulkner on Instagram where a hashtag was misinterpreted as the player coming out as gay.
The post at the centre of the furore caused a stir when many on social media assumed the hashtag of #togetherfor5years to be in reference to Faulkner celebrating a 5 year anniversary with Rob Jubb, who has since been confirmed as his best friend and housemate, not a partner. After the controversy, Faulkner edited the post to include ‘(best mate!!!!)’ to clarify.
Fuelling the fire was the response of other current and former Australian players such as Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Tait and Brett Lee who showed support for the apparent bravery of Faulkner’s act.
"Happy birthday mate! Great courage 👏 "
Great courage mate, bet u feel better.
Those were the posts of Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Tait respectively. It remains unknown whether they were aware of the situation and in on the joke, or equally as oblivious as those shocked by the post.
I distinctly remember waking up and seeing a link to the post, with friends and other online communities discussing it at length, and whether it was legitimate or just a cheeky post.
Ultimately, Faulkner and Cricket Australia cleared the air and apologised, but also expressed their thanks that a majority was very supportive of the now false ‘coming out’.