Rebel Wilson on How Media Pressure Forced Her to Come Out: It Was ‘a Very Hard Situation’

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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Rebel Wilson revealed that going Instagram official with her same-sex partner was not entirely her choice.

Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Hornery published an article detailing why he asked the “Pitch Perfect” star’s team to comment on her relationship with sustainable clothing designer Ramona Agruma. Hornery gave Wilson “two days to comment” and then criticized her “underwhelming” decision to post on Instagram with Agruma and control coming out on her own terms.

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Wilson tweeted in response to fans who were outraged by the Herald’s practices: “Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.”

The “Senior Year” actress and executive producer shared a snapshot last week alongside Agruma with the caption: “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince, but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess #loveislove.”

Herald editor Bevan Shields defended the newspaper’s approach to the situation, writing, “To say that the Herald ‘outed’ Wilson is wrong. Like other mastheads do every day, we simply asked questions and as standard practice included a deadline for a response. 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.”

Hornery later issued an apology op-ed piece.

“I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard. That was never my intention,” Hornery penned. “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.”

Hornery added that his editors “mishandled steps in our approach” and clarified that his inquiry was “never intended to be a threat but to make it clear I was sufficiently confident with my information and to open a conversation.”

Hornery shared, “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 Herald and I will approach things differently from now on to make sure we always take into consideration the extra layer of complexities people face when it comes to their sexuality.”

The original column was additionally deleted with a retraction issued.

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