SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 08: Rebel Wilson arrives ahead of the 2021 AACTA Awards Presented by Foxtel Group at the Sydney Opera House on December 08, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

Last week, actor and comedian Rebel Wilson went Instagram official with her new partner in a post that doubled as her coming out to the world. “I thought I was searching for a Disney prince … but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,” she wrote alongside a photo of herself and her girlfriend, fashion designer, Ramona Agruma. She added heart emojis, a rainbow – the unofficial queer symbol, and the hashtag #LoveIsLove. 

The post, which came during Pride Month, was immediately filled with praise for the new couple with hundreds of comments congratulating the pair and rainbow emoji upon rainbow emoji posted by queer fans and allies alike. 

But despite the myriad of support and the clear display of couple goals, it appears Wilson’s choice to come out now might not have been her choice. A few days after the comedian’s announcement, The Sydney Morning Herald published a column by Andrew Hornery in which the journalist claimed the outlet had been planning on breaking the news of Wilson’s relationship with Agruma. According to Hornery, the paper reached out to Wilson, giving her a two-day window to respond before publishing the piece. Per The Cut (the piece has since been deleted), Hornery wrote this decision was a “Big mistake,” accusing Wilson of choosing to “gazump” the story by daring to announce her own relationship herself.

Furthermore, Hornery went so far as to write that he thinks it’s “unlikely” Wilson “would have experienced the sort of discrimination let alone homophobia — subconscious or overt — that sadly still affects so many gay, lesbian, and non-hetero people.” Ah, ok?

Naturally, the piece went down like a tonne of bricks with people taking to Twitter to slam both The Sydney Morning Herald and Hornery for the handling of the situation. Wilson herself then responded to one of the tweets confirming the situation. Journalist Kate Doak wrote, “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. What’s worse, openly gay men at the Sydney Morning Herald were involved in this.”

Thanking fans for their support, Wilson responded, “It was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.” 

Following the backlash, Hornery wrote another column on Monday, apologising for the way it was handled and for his initial piece. “It is not the Herald’s business to ‘out’ people,” he wrote. “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.” The Sydney Morning Herald has now removed his initial story and replaced it with the apology.

But back to stanning Wilson and Agruma to end on a positive note. Without naming Agruma, Wilson previously spoke about her relationship in an interview with People, revealing that after striking out on dating apps, she found success through an old-fashioned setup. “We spoke on the phone for weeks before meeting,” Wilston said last month. “It was a bit old-school in that sense — very romantic.” She then dubbed the relationship “really healthy.” Gorgeous.

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