Left to right: Ramona Agruma and partner Rebel Wilson attend the Grand Reveal Weekend for Atlantis The Royal
(Picture: Jeff Spicer / Getty Images for Atlantis The Royal)The grand opening of Atlantis The Royal Dubai last weekend sparked controversy across social media, with many berating the celebrity guests for promoting the hotel despite the UAE’s notorious anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
In particular, Australian actor Rebel Wilson has been criticised for attending the ultra VIP event with her girlfriend, Ramona Agruma, and their daughter Royce.
Under Sharia Law, same-sex relationships are banned in UAE — with the death penalty still existing for such acts. Although it is unlikely that modern courts would inflict the sentence, there have been several incidents of members from the LGBTQ+ community being prosecuted while visiting the country.
In 2008, the city’s Court of Appeal found a lesbian couple guilty of kissing on a public beach, sentencing them to one month in prison for “indecent acts”, and in 2016, Canadian YouTuber and model Gigi Gorgeous, who is a transgender woman, was detained for five hours at Dubai International Airport and had her passport confiscated.
Wilson posted a reel from the trip showcasing the couple enjoying their luxurious hotel room and watching Beyoncé’s divisive performance. The caption read: “Atlantis The Royal is BEYond! What a weekend with BEY! @atlantistheroyal.”
Within moments, disappointed fans flooded her comments.
“A nice free trip, to a place that you can’t be gay in,” a commenter said, adding: “Oh the Privilege. What about other LGBT people?”
“I had friends who were homosexual in Dubai, they had to get a two bedroom apartment just in case the authorities knocked on their door,” stated another, who also pointed out the “hypocrisy of it all”.
Wilson announced she was gay last June in an Instagram post featuring her girlfriend. “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney princess." It later transpired that the star was forced to reveal her sexuality after a Sydney Morning Herald journalist alerted her to a planned article to “out her”.
When the Australian Press Council later condemned the publication for trying to out the actor, Wilson tweeted: “While I didn’t personally ask for any action to be taken I am glad that this has been officially recorded and recognised.”
She continued: “Their actions did cause Ramona and I a lot of distress and while we’ve remained classy, there are still pains from having to rush this news publicly which we are dealing with.”
Still, it appears Wilson is unfazed by the criticism, having posted another photo dump from her stay — once again tagging the resort to her 11.3 million followers. One fan told the star: “Screw what all these negative people are saying. You both look great, you’ve worked (and are working) hard, and you’ve stayed classy.”
Her girlfriend has responded to some of the comments, replying to one user: “Oh just stop using the word privilege left and right for no reason. Rebel comes from a humble background and worked hard to be where she is today, so did I. So don’t criticise if you don’t know. Being in the public eye however gives you platform to make a change and allows us to be seen and represent ourselves and other gay people. There are many gay people here and also many among the guests of the event and for them to see someone like us not hiding is important and supportive. I totally see it as a positive thing. Be kind and have a lovely day.”
