Rebel Wilson Responds to Report She Was 'Forced' to Come Out

By Daniel S. Levine

Rebel Wilson's decision to introduce her girlfriend Romana Agruma on Instagram Thursday was met with celebration, but the backstory behind it took a twist over the weekend. The Sydney Morning Herald published an op-ed Saturday claiming the outlet gave her two days to comment on the new relationship before she did so publicly. The paper was accused of "outing" her, but the newspaper's editor disputed this. Wilson said she was "trying to handle" the "very hard situation" with grace.

On Saturday, Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Hornery wrote that the outlet contacted Wilson's representatives Thursday morning and gave her two days to comment on her relationship with Agruma. Wilson didn't respond, according to Hornery, and instead chose to announce her relationship with Agruma herself. Wilson's friend, actor Hugh Sheridan, also did radio interviews Friday morning, taking credit for introducing Wilson to Agruma.

"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," Hornery wrote, referring to Wilson's 2017 defamation lawsuit against Women's Day magazine over articles claiming she lied about her age and life story. "Of course, who anyone dates is their business, but Wilson happily fed such prurient interest when she had a hunky boyfriend on her arm."

Journalist Kate Doak tweeted Hornery's column. "So apparently it wasn't [Wilson's] choice to come out... The [SMH]/[The Age] have admitted to giving her a heads up 2 days in advance that they were going to 'out' her," Doak wrote. "What's worse, openly gay men at the Sydney Morning Herald were involved in this."

Wilson responded to Doak's tweet, writing, "Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace." The Pitch Perfect star has not commented further on the situation.

Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields disputed the idea that his outlet "outed" Wilson. "Wilson made the decision to publicly disclose her new partner – who had been a feature of her social media accounts for months. Private Sydney is a column in which the writer's interaction with his subjects is often part of the story," Shields wrote, referring to Hornery's column. "Saturday's piece followed that theme in giving readers insights into our interaction with Wilson and her PR team. This was not a standard news story. We wish Wilson and Agruma well."

Wilson, 42, shared a photo with Agruma, a Los Angeles-based leisure-wear designer, on Thursday. "I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess," she wrote. This is Wilson's first publicly-known same-sex relationship. Wilson previously dated Jacob Busch, an heir to the Anheuser-Busch company. 

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