Rebel Wilson’s fans and many others were thrilled to celebrate with the actress when she publicly came out on Instagram, confirming her relationship with designer Ramona Agruma. A cloud came over her announcement, however, when it was revealed that she’d been pressured to go public with her romance after an Australian newspaper threatened to out her. In response to intense backlash, the journalist Andrew Hornery has admitted he was wrong, while the Senior Year actress showed her appreciation for the support she’s received on social media.
Andrew Hornery of The Sydney Morning Herald released an Opinion piece explaining the events that preceded Rebel Wilson’s big announcement. He said the publication had reached out to the actress two days before they planned to publish a story about her relationship. Hornery said in the column, which has since been removed, that he thought it was a non-issue because “sexual orientation is no longer something to be hidden.” People were quick to defend the Pitch Perfect actress, arguing that such a personal decision should never have been taken out of her hands. Wilson showed her appreciation for the support on Twitter:
Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace 💗June 12, 2022
It’s disheartening to know that what should be a joyous moment for Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma has turned into a stressful situation. Not only did the Australian reporter downplay the significance of her being able to decide when and how to come out, he appeared to insult the actress for taking matters into her own hands, saying, “her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming.”
Now that the Opinion piece has since been taken down on The Sydney Morning Herald’s site, it's been replaced by a new column from Andrew Hornery — who identifies as gay. In it, he admits that he made mistakes and promises to learn from them:
Writing a weekly column about the personal lives of the rich, powerful and famous comes with its own unique set of challenges. A celebrity romance is a happy story. When I started hearing from friends and associates of Rebel that she was in a new relationship, as a gossip columnist I could see that was potentially a story, as her previous boyfriends had been. So, after months of posts of the women together on Rebel’s Instagram account – from Oscars parties to Valentine’s Day, and most recently as VIP guests at the gay and lesbian World Pride Polo match in Florida – I assumed there was a good chance she might be happy to discuss it. She had already revealed a month ago that she had been dating and was very happy. But we mishandled steps in our approach.
He went on to detail the supposed contents of the email he sent the actress, which included that several sources had confirmed the relationship and that he had “enough detail to publish.” The reporter also included details of his deadline, saying he hoped to get a comment from the actress “on what I believe is a happy and unexpected news story for her, especially given the recent Pride celebrations.”
Andrew Hornery continued, saying it was not his intention to threaten Rebel Wilson and that it is not his publication’s business to “out” people, but he understands why it's being seen that way:
Her response would have largely determined what I published and as my editor noted on Sunday, at that point no decisions had actually been made by the Herald’s editors on whether to publish anything. I received no reply, which was entirely Rebel’s right. In the early hours of Friday morning Sydney-time, Rebel posted on Instagram about finding her ‘Disney Princess’, Ramona Agruma, which I, along with the rest of the global media, wrote about. My email was never intended to be a threat but to make it clear I was sufficiently confident with my information and to open a conversation. It is not the Herald’s business to ‘out’ people and that is not what we set out to do. But I understand why my email has been seen as a threat. The framing of it was a mistake.
The Cats alum has not commented further on the situation with the Australian publication, but whether or not she finds any healing in the journalist’s latest comments, we hope she continues to move forward and find happiness in what is reportedly a “very serious” relationship. The newly announced couple have allegedly been an item since January, and the comedian shared that she feels she is in an equal partnership and healthy relationship this time around.
Rebel Wilson recently starred in her first movie in three years, Senior Year (which is available to stream with a Netflix subscription), giving her the opportunity to show off the results of her “Year of Health.” During that time, she transformed from “Fat Amy” to “Fit Amy” — a new nickname based on her iconic Pitch Perfect character. After checking out the actress in her recent rom-com, take a look at the other Wilson-led movies you can stream and also see how you can celebrate Pride Month via streaming.
