Journalist Apologizes After Boasting of Attempt to Out Rebel Wilson in Now-Deleted Column

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A columnist for Australian paper the Sydney Morning Herald apologized after he was accused of attempting to out actor Rebel Wilson’s sexual orientation.

“On the weekend I wrote about the background leading to Rebel Wilson’s social media post revealing her new relationship with another woman,” the Herald’s Andrew Hornery wrote in a Monday column. “I have learnt some new and difficult lessons from this and want to be upfront with you about the things I got wrong.”

To recap, Wilson took to Instagram to share news of her relationship on Friday, writing, “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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A post shared by Rebel Wilson (@rebelwilson)

The announcement was a surprise to most — but not Hornery.

Following Wilson’s post, Hornery penned a column — which has since been deleted — claiming he approached Wilson’s team on Thursday morning and asked for comment on her new relationship with LA leisure wear designer Romana Agruma. At that point, the relationship had not been publicly disclosed.

Hornery gave Wilson “two days to comment,” which he said was done out of an “abundance of caution and respect.”

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. pic.twitter.com/qiPZkYFmka

— Megha Mohan (@meghamohan) June 11, 2022

“Big mistake,” Hornery wrote after Wilson took the relationship public herself. “Wilson opted to gazump the story.”

While Hornery viewed Wilson’s Instagram post as an attempt to scoop his story, others took issue with the fact that she was essentially forced to announce her sexuality by the columnist’s request for comment.

Australian reporter Kate Doak noted on Twitter, “So apparently it wasn’t [Wilson’s] choice to come out.”

Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace 💗

— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 12, 2022

“Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace,” Wilson replied.

Following Wilson’s comment and the backlash the paper received Saturday, Herald editor Bevan Shields penned a “note on Rebel Wilson” in order to “offer the Herald’s view on this issue.”

“To say that the Herald ‘outed’ Wilson is wrong,” Shields wrote after briefly explaining the situation.

“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,” he added.

The question asked Wilson to confirm the gender of her new partner.

Despite the claim from Shields, it’s clear the newspaper had some intention to publish Wilson’s response, given Hornery’s Saturday column lamenting that Wilson “opted to gazump” his story by announcing her own relationship.

Hornery has since penned another column, entitled “I made mistakes over Rebel Wilson, and will learn from them,” which will replace the column originally published on Saturday.

“As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts,” he wrote. “The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.”