Six O’Clock Show host Brian Dowling has revealed he hired a hate crime investigator after experiencing an intense level of online trolling.
The dad-of-two and his husband, Arthur Gourounlian, have experienced a massive amount of online hate since the birth of their children, Blake and Blu, via surrogacy.
Dowling has been on kids’ television as a gay man since 2001, but the number of hate comments he’s been receiving progressively increased since sharing pictures of his kids on his socials, including accusations that he is “prostituting” them online.
One recent post of Brian’s that received a significant amount of hate was of his daughter Blake, who was potty training. Some of the comments included: “You’re disgusting,” “You’re taking advantage,” and “You’re prostituting your child.”
In an interview with Dublin Live, Dowling said: “I’ve even had comments about my daughter’s skin tone and my daughter’s hair. It’s so funny. I’m like, what does it mean ‘she really gets the sun’, or ‘her skin’s dark’ or ‘she’s really sallow’.”
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The pair had to go to the Gardaí over the intimidating messages they had received online. In the end, the presenter took action against the online trolling by hiring an investigator.
According to Evoke, Brian Dowling revealed that through the hate crime investigator, they have been able to discover some information about the people who were trolling him. He was shocked to find out who they were, as the investigator warned them that “the chances are it’s people you know”.
He admitted: “Sometimes you think it’s not the people you think it is as well (…) These are people that have jobs, families, and they might be in the same industry, and you go, ‘Wow. What is wrong with you?’”
This worrying situation has caused Brian to think: “There have been many times I cried because it makes you worry as a parent, the kind of world that you’re bringing your children into, and the power of social media”.
“You can’t be messaging someone calling them a paedophile, just because they’re gay and have kids. It’s 2025. I went on kids telly as a gay man in 2001 and was open about, like, have we not moved away?” Dowling concluded.
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