Just hours after Gawker published a story that may have outed Conde Nast chief financial officer David Geithner as gay, the site pulled the story in response to outrage among readers and even its own reporters. Gawker CEO Nick Denton wrote that publishing the story is “a decision I regret.”

The original story claimed that Geithner offered a male escort $2,500 to meet him in Chicago, but then pulled out of the deal. The story was based almost entirely on what the male escort - whose name was not given in the story - told them.

Almost immediately, readers wondered why the story was published, especially since Geithner is not a public figure. He is the brother of former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, but the married father of three is not an activist or politician. Even some of Gawker’s own writers complained about the piece being published.

This afternoon, Gawker pulled the story.

“Yesterday evening, Gawker.com published a story about the CFO of Conde Nast texting an escort. It was an editorial call, a close call around which there were more internal disagreements than usual. And it is a decision I regret,” Denton wrote. He still insisted that the account was true, but admitted that not all secrets have to be revealed to the public. The story is fit for tabloids, but Denton realized that Gawker’s profile has been raised in recent years and what readers expect has changed.

“We are proud of running stories that others shy away from, often to preserve relationships or access. But the line has moved. And Gawker has an influence and audience that demands greater editorial restraint,” Denton wrote.

“The point of this story was not in my view sufficient to offset the embarrassment to the subject and his family,” he later continued. “Accordingly, I have had the post taken down. It is the first time we have removed a significant news story for any reason other than factual error or legal settlement.”

Denton knows that pulling the story won’t save Geithner from embarrassment, but it does help the site establish new standards.

Before Gawker pulled the story, Geithner told the site, “I don’t know who this individual is. This is a shakedown. I have never had a text exchange with this individual. He clearly has an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with me.”

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