Reports of a gay couple allegedly assaulting a camera crew and a right‑wing online media personality have been prominently promoted by Murdoch‑owned media outlets.
A video uploaded by Ryley Niemi claims that the couple attacked him and his camera crew from the outlet Off the Record USA. News of the interaction were reported on the New York Post and quickly distributed globally across Murdoch-owned outlets included News.com and Sky News in Australia.
However, the couple featured in the video have hit back, accusing Niemi and Off the Record of deceptive practices and harassment.
The video shows Niemi, who describes himself as a MAGA influencer, interviewing the couple while they hold their infant son beside a pram. The couple are Anthony Vulin, a realtor and member of West Hollywood’s Business License Commission, and his husband, David Miller‑Robinson.
“Have you ever heard about the statistics coming out that gay men are much more likely to commit child molestation?” Niemi asks in the footage. The couple appear shocked by the question and say they are not aware of such statistics, describing the claim as “crazy.”
Suggestions that gay men are more likely to be the perpetrators of child sexual assault have been debunked on many occasions. In 2021 Gregory Herek, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who is one of the USA’s leading researchers on prejudice against sexual minorities, reviewed a series of studies and found no evidence that gay men molest children at higher rates than heterosexual men.
The interviewer then goes on to ask, “Don’t you think it’s weird that you guys have a child but neither of you are a woman?”
Visibly stunned by the intrusive question, the couple respond that they do not consider being parents “weird.” Niemi then asks whether they used surrogacy to start their family. “You paid a woman $50,000 to be pregnant?” he says.
The couple attempt to end the interview and move away before Miller‑Robinson is seen pushing Niemi. The clip then cuts to another moment in which he appears to shove the interviewer again. There is no indication of what occurred in the intervening period.
Niemi and his outlet have claimed the interaction left their camera damaged beyond repair. They say Vulin was arrested and charged with assault and damage to property. The media outlet has since launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking funds to replace the camera.
In a follow‑up video, Niemi says he attempted to disengage from the confrontation and accuses the couple of chasing him. He also claims that more than a dozen emergency responders attended the scene.
In interviews, the couple present a different account, alleging that Niemi misrepresented himself. They claim that when the camera crew approached them on the evening of Thursday, 16 April, they introduced themselves as working for the mainstream media outlet CNN.
Following the incident, the couple went to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station to report the encounter. Police subsequently arrested Miller‑Robinson. The couple deny damaging any of the crew’s equipment.
The couple have since launched their own GoFundMe campaign to assist with legal fees, which has raised more than USD $86,000 to date. A fundraiser launched by Niemi is seeking USD $9,000 and has so far attracted approximately USD $1,800 in donations.
