Actress Rebel Wilson has responded to claims she revealed her relationship with a woman because an Australian newspaper was going to "out" her.
Wilson announced her relationship with fashion designer Ramona Agruma on Instagram on Friday, drawing an overwhelmingly positive response from fans.
The following day, the Sydney Morning Herald published a column by journalist Andrew Hornery in which he accused Wilson of going public to "gazump" a story he was planning to write on the relationship.
Hornery said he had given Wilson a deadline of two days to respond but that was a "big mistake" and her choice to ignore his query was "underwhelming".
He was met with fierce backlash online, with people noting Wilson may not have chosen to announce the relationship if it had not been for Hornery's deadline.
This appeared to be confirmed when Wilson said in a tweet that it was "a very hard situation" but that she was "trying to handle it with grace".
As the criticism against the newspaper intensified, editor Bevan Shields wrote: "To say that the Herald 'outed' Wilson is wrong."
Many described the response as tone-deaf to the personal and professional difficulties a person can face in revealing that they are in a same-sex relationship.
Hornery apologised in an online column on Monday afternoon, stating he "made mistakes".
Shields said Saturday's column had been retracted.
Wilson thanks fans for support
Wilson had stated earlier this year that she was in a relationship but did not reveal her partner's identity.
"I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince … but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess," Wilson wrote in the announcement on Friday.
On Saturday, Hornery, who pens the Private Sydney column, wrote that Wilson "opted to gazump" his scoop about the relationship.
"In a perfect world, "outing" same-sex celebrity relationships should be a redundant concept in 2022. Love is love, right?"
"As Rebel Wilson knows, we do not live in a perfect world.
"So, it was with an abundance of caution and respect that this media outlet emailed Rebel Wilson's representatives on Thursday morning, giving her two days to comment on her new relationship with LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word.
"Big mistake. Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new 'Disney Princess' on Instagram early Friday morning, the same platform she had previously used to brag about her handsome ex-boyfriend, wealthy American beer baron Jacob Busch …
"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 and the Sydney Morning Herald were met with a wave of criticism on social media for forcing Wilson's hand in revealing her same-sex relationship, particularly during Pride Month.
BBC reporter Megha Mohan wrote on Twitter: "I've just read this @smh piece 3 times to make sure that I wasn't misreading. The publication messaged Rebel Wilson saying they would out her in 2 days — and is now complaining that she chose to announce her relationship with a woman herself. Quite astonishing."
Mohan's tweet alone has so far attracted more than 156,000 likes and 20,000 retweets.
Actor Matt Lucas, Wilson's former flatmate and Bridesmaids co-star, tweeted: "Coming out is often a long, scary process, with many beats. Self-realisation, telling friends & family, a first relationship. I thought the press forcing people to out themselves, regardless of whether or not they were ready, was a thing of the past. I must have been mistaken."
Network 10 journalist Kate Doak tweeted: "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."
In response to Doak's tweet, Wilson wrote on Sunday night: "Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace."
Prior to Wilson's tweet, Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields wrote in an online editorial that "to say that the Herald 'outed' Wilson is wrong".
"Like other mastheads do every day, we simply asked questions and as standard practice included a deadline for a response."
"I had made no decision about whether or what to publish, and the Herald's decision about what to do would have been informed by any response Wilson supplied.
"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.
"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."
Shields's statement attracted further criticism online, with some people saying they would cancel their subscription.
On Monday afternoon, Hornery published an apology and noted his column from Saturday would be taken down from the newspaper's website.
Shields tweeted a link to the apology and said: "The Herald made mistakes over Rebel Wilson, and will learn from them. Saturday's piece has been retracted and Andrew Hornery goes into detail here about what we didn't get right".
"I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard. That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace," Hornery 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 …
"In trying to tell the story within the story, which is what Private Sydney does, the tone of my column on Saturday was also off.
"I got it wrong. I allowed my disappointment to cast a shadow over the piece. That was not fair and I apologise."
