Andrew Hornery apologises to Rebel Wilson over Ramona Agruma article

Columnist Andrew Hornery has apologised to actor Rebel Wilson, saying: “As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts.”

Columnist Andrew Hornery has apologised to actor Rebel Wilson after being accused of forcing her to come out with her same-sex relationship with a LA fashion designer, saying: “As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts.”

The Sydney Morning Herald journalist issued the open apology to Wilson on Monday and said he had learnt some new and difficult lessons from the things he got wrong.

On Sunday, the 42-year-old actor took to Twitter on Sunday to thank her fans for their support, saying it was “a very hard situation” that she was “trying to handle … with grace”.

The Pitch Perfect star announced on social media last week that she was in a relationship with LA fashion designer Ramona Agruma.

A post on her official Instagram account on Friday, paired with a selfie with Ramona, read: “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince … but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess.”

On Saturday, the SMH published a column that indicated the outlet had heard about the couple and gave Wilson two days to respond to queries about her new flame.

Columnist Andrew Hornery wrote that Wilson “opted to gazump the story” by announcing the news on Instagram.

Ramona Agruma and Rebel Wilson in a ski event Utah, in the US, in April. Picture: Getty Images

“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,” he wrote.

In his open apology to Wilson on Monday, Hornery admitted he had learnt some new and difficult lessons from the things he got wrong.

“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.”

“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.”

Hornery then continued to detail his approach to Wilson and her team, while admitted that he “mishandled steps” and would replace Saturday’s column with the apology.

The couple at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

The couple at a Utah ski event.

“When I started hearing from friends and associates of Rebel that she was in a new relationship, as a gossip columnist I could see that was potentially a story, as her previous boyfriends had been,” he wrote.

“So, after months of posts of the women together on Rebel’s Instagram account — from Oscars parties to Valentine’s Day, and most recently as VIP guests at the gay and lesbian World Pride Polo match in Florida — I assumed there was a good chance she might be happy to discuss it.

“She had already revealed a month ago that she had been dating and was very happy.”

Prior to the apology, Twitter users were quick to fire back at the publication for supposedly attempting to “out” the actor and steal her choice to come out.

“So apparently it wasn’t @rebelwilson’s choice to come out …,” a user tweeted.

“What’s worse, openly gay men at the Sydney Morning Herald were involved in this.”

Hundreds of fans threw their support behind Wilson and praised her for her bravery.

“This situation is just gross and it should never happen,” another user wrote.

It was in January that it was first suggested Wilson was open to dating women as well as men.

At the time, it was reported Wilson was using celebrity dating app, Raya, when she was rumoured to be dating Australian tennis player Matt Reid.

Her Raya profile stated she was “not picky on which gender”.

Hugh Sheridan with Rebel Wilson and her partner Ramona Agruma.

But last week, she made her relationship public.

A short time later, Hugh Sheridan posted a series of pictures and videos with the three of them, revealing he introduced the couple to each other.

“My two best friends. Call me c-hupid,” Sheridan wrote on Instagram alongside a series of photos and videos of Wilson and Agruma with the actor.

Mr Hornery said in his column that the actor had her “bestie”, actor Hugh Sheridan, do radio interviews on breakfast FM on Friday morning, during which he gloated about introducing the women to each other six months ago.

“Apparently they had hit it off pretty much immediately but had kept the relationship under wrap,” he said.

Originally published as Andrew Hornery apologises to Rebel Wilson over Ramona Agruma article