Saudi Arabia: Too Good Looking To Be True

You have most probably heard by now that three Emirati men were allegedly thrown out of a cultural Janadriyah Festival by the Saudi religious police (pl. mutawaeen) for “being too handsome.” Most reports, however, have claimed the three men were actually deported from the Kingdom, itself, for their ‘seductive' lure that was apparently going to send the attending women into an incontrollable hormonal flux. Fementertainment blog, Jezebel, was amongst the first to reveal the identity of one of the alleged Emirati men, Omar Borkan Al Gala – a photographer, model, actor and poet. The internet went into self-fanning mode as several images of the young man went viral and thousands clamored to follow him on social media websites.
Unfortunately, no one in the English press bothered to actually fact check the story.
As it turns out, three men were not, in fact, deported from Saudi Arabia. Actually, no one was deported from Saudi Arabia and certainly not for being too handsome. And, actually, no one was even kicked out of the heritage and cultural festival except for a member of the religious police for protesting against the presence of a Gulf female singer...

Islawmix.

The author notes; "Saudi Arabia often makes US (and international) headlines for its laws (legal mishaps?) regarding women, sex and religious minorities. Some of these stories undoubtedly belong there, but a surprising number gain traction thanks to a small amount of research and suspension of critical engagement. It seems that when it comes to Saudi Arabia (and sometimes her theocratic counterpart Iran, albeit less so),  the more bizarre the story may seem – in that way only the Saudi Arabia of our perception could normalize – the more believable it is."

Sound familiar? 
Basically you can write any old Orientalist bollocks about these "funny" foreign countries and - usually - get away with it.
And in Fagburn's experience it seems done far more so about America's Officially Declared Enemy, Iran - false and/or unverified accusations of homophobic acts seem strangely popular.

PS Here's how The Independent covered the story above; Behold Omar! The Man Who Was Just Too Handsome.
Modesty forbids me from drawing your attention to the first reader comment asking if they'd bothered to check it.