Rebel Wilson’s coming out was forced by Australian paper
Despite a happy announcement last week, Rebel Wilson’s coming out actually had a dark side: she was forced by an Australian broadsheet that wanted to out her.
Wilson recently publicly announced her relationship with leisurewear designer Ramona Agruma on Instagram, resulting in a warm response from fans and fellow celebrities alike.
However, Andrew Hornery, a columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald, revealed the Saturday after of having knowledge about Wilson’s relationship prior to its announcement, and had given Wilson two days to comment.
Paper denies forcing Rebel Wilson’s coming out
Hornery wrote in a Private Sydney column that they had asked “with an abundance of caution and respect” via email Wilson’s representatives to comment “before publishing a single word.”
He continued, “Big Mistake. Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new ‘Disney Princess’ on Instagram early Friday morning.”
He added, “Considering how bitterly Wilson had complained about poor journalism standards when she successfully sued Woman’s Day for defamation, her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming.”
When Hornery received backlash for trying to out Wilson, The Herald’s editor, Bevan Shields, denied that the columnist tried to pressure Wilson.
“To say that the Herald ‘outed’ Wilson is wrong,” Shields wrote. “Like other mastheads do every day, we simply asked questions and as standard practice included a deadline for a response.”
He added. “I had made no decision about whether or what to publish, and the Herald’s decision about what to do would have been informed by any response Wilson supplied.”
Social media rages on behalf of Rebel Wilson
The paper received a lot of criticism on social media for pressuring Wilson to come out.
A Stonewall spokesperson said: “Coming out is a deeply personal decision. Whether, when and how to come out should be decided by the individual, entirely on their terms.”
“It is simply not OK to ‘out’ LGBTQ+ people or put pressure on us to come out. Media outlets should take care not to sensationalize LGBTQ+ lives and relationships.”
Hornery had also insinuated that Wilson getting outed by the article would not have been a big deal as “sexual orientation is no longer something to be hidden, even in Hollywood.”
The backlash resulted in Hornery’s piece being taken down from the Sydney Morning Herald’s website.
The columnist had also issued a public apology afterward, writing: “I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard. That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace.”
“As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.”
Wilson has since responded to the social media reaction to her situation. “Thanks for your comments,”
She added, “It was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.”