Rebel Wilson has opened up for the first time about her “outing” ordeal, revealing that the Sydney Morning Herald forced her to go public with her same-sex relationship before she had a chance to tell some people close to her.
Wilson announced in a sweet Instagram post in June that she had found her “Disney Princess” in Los Angeles fashion designer Ramona Agruma.
But a few days later, it emerged the social media post came ahead of a story by Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Hornery that was going to reveal the relationship.
Speaking to The Australian, the Australian star opened up about the “grubby” situation, saying the rushed announcement came before she and Agruma had told some friends and family they were a couple.
“I just thought it was kind of grubby behaviour,” Wilson told The Australian.
“Basically, with the situation where a journalist is threatening to out you, you’ve got to hurry.
“And some people we didn’t get a chance to tell before it came out publicly. And that’s not ideal.”
Wilson said while a same-sex relationship was “not that big of a deal”, there were still some sensitive discussions needed with both her and Agruma’s families before going public.
“There are levels to telling people,” Wilson said.
“You tell your close family and your friends and not everybody. Across our two families, not everybody is as accepting as what you’d hope for, and we were trying to be respectful to those people and tell them in our own way.”
Rebel Wilson says outing controversy was ‘a hard few days’
Rebel Wilson also added the situation in June was particularly difficult for Agruma.
“It was just a hard few days, especially for my partner, who’s not used to being in the public eye and having to deal with stuff like that,” she said.
“It was probably more harmful for her in many respects.
“But to me, in 2022, love is love. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal and that we should kind of be forced to make an announcement about it. But that happened.”
In the now-deleted Herald column, Hornery said he was aware of the relationship and planned to break the story, “giving [Wilson] two days to comment on her new relationship with another woman, LA designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word”.
He said he “erred on the side of caution and emailed Rebel Wilson’s representatives.”
“Big mistake,” he wrote.
“Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new ‘Disney Princess’ on Instagram early yesterday, the same platform she had previously used to brag about her handsome ex-boyfriend, wealthy American beer baron Jacob Busch.”
The article provoked a global backlash and drew criticism from international news agencies and celebrities including The New York Times, Whoopi Goldberg, George Takei and Ronan Keating.
Hornery and Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields later insisted they had not pressured Wilson into coming out, but later published apologies for the situation.
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This was a disgusting position for Rebel Wilson to be placed in. the fact that it was orchestrated by a gay journalist made it even worse.
Good on them for gazumping the story and robbing Hornery of his “exclusive expose”.