Rebel Wilson.Photo: Getty
The Sydney Morning Heraldjournalist Andrew Hornery is apologizing for how the newspaper “mishandled steps in our approach” in its reporting onRebel Wilson’s new relationship.
On Thursday, theSenior Yearactress, 42, revealed in anInstagram postthat she is datingRamona Agruma.
Wilson’s online followers criticized the newspaper for how they handled the situation, including journalist Kate Doak whowrote on Twitter: “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.”
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Ina column postedMonday to the newspaper’s website, Hornery said he “genuinely regret(s)” that Wilson felt pressure to make her new relationship public.
“That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace. As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts,” the columnist wrote. “The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.”
“I received no reply, which was entirely Rebel’s right,” he added.
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“It is not theHerald’sbusiness to ‘out’ people and that is not what we set out to do. But I understand why my email has been seen as a threat. Theframing of it was a mistake,” Hornery wrote. “TheHeraldand I will approach things differently from now on to make sure we always take into consideration the extra layer of complexities people face when it comes to their sexuality.”
Additionally, he said “the tone” of his original column, published Saturday local time, “was also off.”
“I got it wrong. I allowed my disappointment to cast a shadow over the piece. That was not fair and I apologize,” Hornery added. “As a result, theHeraldwill take down Saturday’s column and replace it with this one.”
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On Thursday, the actress revealed in anInstagram postthat she is dating Agruma, who is a fashion and jewelry designer.
“I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince … but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess 💗🌈💗#loveislove,” Wilsoncaptioned the picturethat showed her smiling alongside her girlfriend.
Hornery’s original article commented on how he felt about Wilson choosing not to collaborate with the publication on announcing her relationship. “Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new ‘Disney Princess,’ " he wrote. (The op-ed also commented on thePitch Perfectstar’s past relationship with a man.)
source: people.com
