Rebel Wilson made big news last week when she came out on Instagram by posting a photo of her and her girlfriend, clothing and jewelry designer Ramona Agruma.
But a recent op-ed from Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery revealed Wilson's decision to come out was prompted by his threat to out her in a forthcoming article.
After several days of backlash to what many found deeply upsetting behavior by a reporter and editor who are both themselves gay—during Pride Month no less—Wilson has finally spoken out about the furor.
Wilson's brief statement came in response to another Australian journalist who tweeted her anger about the incident.
See their Twitter conversation below.
In response to journalist Kate Doak's tweet about the outing incident, Wilson wrote:
"Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace 💗"
The uproar erupted the day after Wilson announced her relationship with Agruma when Hornery published a column describing his plans to out her, in which he seemed indignant Wilson had ruined—or "gazumped" in his parlance—his big scoop.
His column, which has since been removed from the Herald's website amid the uproar and Hornery's subsequent apology, read:
"...[I]t 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 LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word."
"Big mistake."
"Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new 'Disney Princess' on Instagram early Friday morning, the same platform she had previously used to brag about her handsome ex-boyfriend, wealthy American beer baron Jacob Busch …"
Hornery went on to further snipe at Wilson in a way that suggested he somehow felt entitled to access to her private life.
"Considering how bitterly Wilson had complained about poor journalism standards when she successfully sued Woman's Day for defamation, her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming."
The backlash to Hornery's astonishingly tone-deaf column was immediate, especially after his editor Bevan Shields—who is also a gay man—initially denied he or Hornery had done anything wrong.
Many were shocked outing a person is something a media outlet would turn to in 2022—as actor, comedian, Wilson's former roommate and Bridesmaids costar Matt Lucas pointed out.
Others were gobsmacked by Hornery's sense of entitlement and the insensitive—and oftentimes dangerous—practice of outing people.
Wilson's response to the matter was met with an outpouring of support.
But people were outraged she was forced into the position to "handle it with grace" in the first place.
In response to the uproar, both Hornery and Shields now say they made mistakes in how they handled the situation.
Hornery has since published an apology in which he said he has "learnt some new and difficult lessons" from the incident and he "genuinely regret[s]" the difficulty he caused for Wilson.
