Rebel Wilson has spoken out about being “mum-shamed” after attending parties a week after the birth of her daughter via surrogate.
The Australian actor welcomed her first child, Royce Lilian, in early November. She has previously spoken candidly about her struggle to conceive via IVF after discovering she had no viable embryos.
Just over a week after announcing the new arrival, Wilson and her partner Ramona Agruma attended parties hosted by Leonardo DiCaprio and Paris Hilton on the same night.
She shared photos of the couple’s night out on her Instagram Stories, but was apparently criticised by other mothers for leaving the house so soon after her daughter was born.
Appearing on an episode of the Life Uncut podcast, which was released on Monday (13 February)., Wilson said she was “shocked at the criticism” and drew comparisons between how mothers and fathers are treated.
She told hosts Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne: “I think it was only a week until I got mum-shamed.
“I was shocked at the criticism because Chris Hemsworth goes to the gym and people aren’t yelling, ‘Where [are] your kids?’ But why do they do it to every woman?”
Wilson said she was initially unsure about going out for the events, but her nanny reminded her that Royce would be “asleep by 7pm” and was “totally fine”.
The parties were “a little bit [of] work in a way”, the Pitch Perfect star added. “Like, I’m talking to directors or talking to other actors that might be useful to collaborate with, so it’s a little bit of work and it’s a little bit of fun, and then we were basically home by midnight.”
She admitted that she has a “privileged position”, but said her critics’ views were “outdated” and hit out at “women shaming other women”.
“Just because you become a mother doesn’t mean that you lose your identity as a person. It doesn’t mean you can’t go out with friends or you can’t go on holiday. It doesn’t mean you can’t have a career,” Wilson said.
“I worked hard to get into a position where I had a really great household and stable life to bring up the baby, but we don’t go out that much because we want to stay home and chill, and we’re so exhausted,” she added.
Wilson revealed that she and Agruma have taken Royce out with them on occasion, such as to Beyoncé’s recent performance at the Atlantis the Royal hotel in Dubai.
“We just went to Dubai with the baby because there was a free Beyoncé concert and we were like, ‘Yeah, why not?’”
The singer’s show was her first since 2018 and was mainly attended by celebrities and journalists, including Kendall Jenner and British Vogue editor Edward Enninful.
In November, Wilson shared an update on motherhood after she took Royce on her “first adventure” while having lunch at Nobu in Malibu, California.
