Whoopi Goldberg has seen journalist Andrew Hornery’s apology for ‘unintentionally’ outing actress Rebel Wilson, and she’s not buying it.
To recap, Wilson took to Instagram last week to reveal she’s dating a woman, entrepreneur Ramona Agruma. She and the leisurewear designer were previously photographed attending the Met Gala together and it’s believed they’ve been dating for several months.
However, the Sydney Morning Herald later revealed it had approached Wilson before her Instagram posting. It said it had asked her to comment on her new relationship and gave her two days to respond before running a story.
The paper’s gossip columnist, Andrew Hornery, apologized this week, writing: “My email was never intended to be a threat but to make it clear I was sufficiently confident with my information and to open a conversation.
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“It is not the Herald’s business 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. The framing of it was a mistake.”
Related: Evicted from the closet: 8 times queer celebrities were outed by their own allies
Hornery, who is gay, added: “The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.”
Goldberg addressed the apology on The View:
“There’s a lot of speculation that Rebel came out to get ahead of a tabloid story in the Sydney Morning Herald about her relationship.
“Now, the man who wrote it even apologized, saying it was ‘never his intention to out her’… Well, you know that’s not true.”
She added: “If it wasn’t your intention, you wouldn’t have done it. If you didn’t want to do it, you shouldn’t have done it. You knew exactly what you were doing.”
The View co-host Sara Haines agreed, noting that Wilson was treated unfairly.
“I would not give a quote or talk to a place that’s forcing me to tell a story that I’m not ready to tell,” she said.
Wilson, for her part, has said on Twitter that she tried to “handle it with grace,” but that the situation was “hard.”
Donston
Honestly, he made more of an ass out of himself by releasing that corny statement. You wanted clicks and wanted to be the first to let the world know she was in a gay relationship. The fact that he doesn’t own up to that is cringe-y. This obsession with him being “gay” serves no purpose though. We know that most these people who profit off of gossip couldn’t care less about hurting someone’s feelings or exposing people. While traditional media in general have been very hush-hush for a decade now when it comes to publishing queer rumors or gay relationships. I do somewhat feel bad for Rebel. You never know what’s going on as far as how “out” someone is with their friends/family, their journeys and struggles, how much someone has dealt with stuff like internalized phobias or queer insecurities or trying to suss out their place in the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, relationship, commitment spectrum. However, because publications rarely report on gay relationships nowadays, a lot of celebrities live unabashedly and in glass closets while knowing that they won’t be exposed on a wide scale. Celebrity hetero couples don’t get that benefit. The journalist’s statement was extremely lame and deflecting.
Also, once again, why is this site trying to shame “outings” when you just posted articles dissecting and speculating about the potential queer dimensions of multiple celebs?
AndyHumm
Rebel has been posting pictures of herself with her girlfriend for MONTHS now. The relational lives of celebrities has always been fair game for the press. And when people like Whoopi and Sara get all huffy about “outing” I would say that there are too many people dedicated to make sure that our lives NEVER get reported on. The reporter in this case had nothing to apologize for. “Outing” is a word made up by Time magazine to describe it as a hostile act and to try to stop it. In the case of celebrities in the Western world, it is just reporting. So the gay press reported on the likes of Ed Koch and Kevin Spacey and David Geffen and Barney Frank and others long before they (except Koch who stayed closeted) ever formally declared themselves.
Donston
It’s his phony response to the backlash that I find the most distasteful. Rebel has been going to many public events with her partner and posting pics online with her. She really wasn’t going out of her way to hide anything. While most famous public figures in hetero relationships don’t get the privilege of newspapers and gossip blogs not talking about it. A lot of modern “queer” celebs want it both ways. They want to feel like they’re “free” and not hiding anything. But they also don’t want anyone to talk about it the same way they talk about obvious hetero partnerships. And then they often eventually exploit their gay relationships and queerness later on. It’s strange and kinda privileged.
missvamp
reporters do this all the time. they’ve done it to dozens of celebrities & they’ll keep doing it. reporters & paparazzi are just scum. they don’t care at all about anyone’s privacy. they get paid big bucks to out people.
DBMC
I think it’s shameful that “journalists” still perpetuate the closet.
bachy
Just be glad you’re not “famous,” kids. Imagine being required to undergo a published interrogation explaining your “relationship” to every joker you happen to f*ck. No thanks!
Jim
Your in the public eye
Your queer
Your outed
Get over it
cuteguy
Andrew Hornery is using his gay card a la Kevin Spacey. For being a creep. Should be revoked