Derek Chadwick Exits Goose Weeks After Gay Dating App Launch

Derek Chadwick has stepped away from Goose, the gay dating and social app he co-founded and launched in late June.

Chadwick, a 31-year-old model, actor and influencer, announced his departure on Instagram on August 18, saying he was no longer involved with the company in any capacity. Goose was positioned as a broader social platform rather than a conventional dating app. Its premise was to help gay men connect through existing social contexts, including places, friends, interests, stories and nearby activity.

In his statement, Chadwick said the decision to leave followed a growing difference between his own vision for the product and the direction being taken by the company. “My vision for where this should go and the direction the company is going aren’t the same thing anymore,” he wrote. He added that, because his name and image were associated with the product, he wanted to be able to fully stand behind its direction.

Chadwick described the project as a meaningful effort to build something for the LGBTQ+ community and said he was proud of the response it received following its launch. According to his statement, tens of thousands of people joined Goose within its first few weeks.

Goose came under fire shortly after launch due to the prevalence of AI accounts used in its marketing, specifically on platforms like Instagram. These accounts were used to heavily promote the account and invite users, often using identical opening messages – which, alongside with Google’s T&Cs allowing them perpetual rights to user-uploaded content, led to concerns being raised.

The departure comes less than two months after Goose’s launch, leaving the company to continue developing the platform without one of its most visible founders – namely, the founder who was most visibly used in its marketing. It’s unknown how this will impact the platform in the long term, or what changes – if any – may be made to Goose in the near future.