Journalist Who Threatened To Out Rebel Wilson Apologises Again
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Andrew Hornery, in a New Year’s column, has readdressed the controversial moment where he “got it wrong” when he threatened to out actor Rebel Wilson.
The Sydney Morning Herald journalist faced criticism online when he published a column accusing Wilson of going public to “gazump” a story that he had been planning to write about her relationship.
Hornery had told Wilson he had intended to publish an article about her relationship, contacting Wilson’s representatives and informing them of his plans. He had given her a deadline of two days to respond.
His questions about her relationship prompted Wilson to publicly announce that she was dating Ramona Agruma via social media platform Instagram.
Critics accused the journalist of attempting to “out” Wilson and condemned him for complaining about her choice to break the news to the public.
“I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,” Wilson captioned the post.
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Hornery Apologises For Failing To ‘Read The Room’
In a new column, the journalist reflected on the controversy and his failure to “read the room.”
“Never before has one of my 300-word celebrity romance stories – in which I mistakenly vented my frustrations at trying to get someone to talk – caused such a backlash,” Hornery wrote.
“Clearly, I got it wrong and hadn’t read the room.”
Hornery added that he had apologised to both Wilson and Agruma for “being churlish and causing them distress.”
Wilson Breaks Silence
Following Hornery’s complaint about Wilson’s public announcement, the actor broke her silence by replying to a tweet by Channel 10’s Kate Doak.
Doak had posted to Twitter stating that it had not been Wilson’s choice to come out and that “the SMH/The Age have admitted to giving her a heads up two 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.”
Wilson replied to Doak, “Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.”
Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace 💗
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 12, 2022
Hornery reflected on his “ill-fated attempt” to “pull back the curtains on the inner workings of celebritydom” that left two of his childhood heroes, Cher and Whoopi Goldberg, admonishing his actions.
Hornery stated that this event had made him realise the error of his ways and that he had “emerged more circumspect when it comes to the journalistically opaque world of reporting on celebrity lives amid the artifice of the social media age.”
The journalist ended his column and yearly reflection by congratulating the couple on “going from strength to strength” in 2022 and wishing them a happy new year.
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