An Australian newspaper has apologised and removed a column about Rebel Wilson’s new relationship, following claims they tried to “out” the actress.
Last Thursday, the 42-year-old came out as gay as she introduced her new girlfriend, Ramona Agruma, to fans in an Instagram post.
Rebel captioned the post: “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess 💗🌈💗 #loveislove.”
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Days after Rebel introduced her new beau, The Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece by journalist Andrew Hornery, who said he knew about their relationship before it was public.
The reporter said he had given Rebel two days to provide a comment for a story, but instead the paper was “gazumped” by the actress revealing the news on Instagram herself.
The newspaper’s handling of the situation sparked widespread criticism on social media, as LGBTQ+ campaigners said it was unacceptable to put pressure on people to come out.
Journalist Kate Doak wrote on Twitter: “So apparently it wasn’t @RebelWilson’s choice to come out… The @smh/@theage have admitted to giving her a heads up 2 days in advance that they were going to ‘out’ her.”
In response to Kate, Rebel tweeted back: “Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.”
Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace 💗
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 12, 2022
While the paper’s editor Bevan Shields has denied they tried to “out” the actress, they have since removed Saturday’s column, and Andrew Hornery has offered an apology.
In a new op-ed, he wrote: “On the weekend I wrote about the background leading to Rebel Wilson’s social media post revealing her new relationship with another woman.”
“I have learnt some new and difficult lessons from this and want to be upfront with you about the things I got wrong.”
“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.”
Andrew confessed they “mishandled steps in our approach”, and included the email he originally sent her reps looking for a comment on her new relationship.
He wrote: “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 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,” he wrote.
