Rebel Wilson Speaks Out After Almost Being 'Publicly Outed' by Australian Newspaper

Last week, Senior Year star Rebel Wilson took to social media to debut her romance with Ramona Agruma, telling fans she's finally found her "Disney Princess" after years of "searching for a Disney Prince". But whilst her post was welcomed by fans, who praised her for going public with her same-sex relationship, the moment was overshadowed by news that Wilson had been forced to make the announcement before she was publicly 'outed'.

In fact it turns out that an Australian newspaper – The Sydney Morning Herald – had reached out to Rebel's representatives earlier that week and given her just two days to respond to them before they would publicly reveal that she's in a relationship with a woman.

"It was with an abundance of caution and respect that this media outlet emailed Rebel Wilson’s representatives on Thursday morning, giving her two days to comment on her new relationship with another woman, LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word," columnist Andrew Hornery wrote in a now-deleted article. "Big mistake. Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new 'Disney Princess' on Instagram early Friday morning."

Understandably, news of the ordeal did not go down well with fans who took to social media to call the publication out. "I’ve just read this @smh piece 3 times to make sure that I wasn’t misreading. The publication messaged Rebel Wilson saying they would out her in 2 days - and is now complaining that she chose to announce her relationship with a woman herself. Quite astonishing," said BBC World reporter Megha Mohan.

"When I saw 'the Sydney Morning Herald threatened to out Rebel Wilson and then complained that she scooped them' I thought someone had leaked an email or something. It never occurred to me that they would publish this narrative of the events in print and expect it to go well," said someone else.

A third person tweeted: "Sydney Morning Herald issuing a think piece on how they gave Rebel Wilson 48 hours before outing her to the world, but *she* is the bad person for using that time to come out on her terms has left me flummoxed. What a thing to do, let alone admit to, let alone expect pity for!"

"I stand with Rebel Wilson. On one level, I'm happy that she's out, but it should have been entirely on her terms, when she was ready, if she even ever was. It shouldn't have been because she was forced to. The actions of the Sydney Morning Herald are beyond disgraceful," another person added to the conversation.

Now, just days on, Wilson has responded to the scandal, replying to a tweet with: "Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace."

In light of the backlash, The Sydney Morning Herald Editor Bevan Shields said in an article that: "We would have asked the same questions had Wilson's new partner been a man. To say that the Herald ‘outed' Wilson is wrong."

Cosmopolitan UK has reached out to The Sydney Morning Herald for comment.

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