Australian Women’s Weekly gets Richard Wilkins’ name wrong — twice
The Australian Women’s Weekly has made a series of embarrassing blunders in a piece honouring veteran Channel 9 reporter Richard Wilkins, getting his surname wrong, mis-spelling his daughter Estella’s name … and even giving ‘Dickie’ a feminine new moniker.
Entertainment
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Richard Wilkins has called out a series of monumental mistakes in an article in one of Australia’s most revered magazines.
The Australian Women’s Weekly not only referred to the veteran television reporter by the wrong last name — Wilkinson — but also in the headline referenced him as “Rachael”.
“There’s a lovely article on @theprincewilkins and me in the new edition of @womensweeklymag that contains a couple of errors;” the 66-year-old wrote on Instagram.
“1) My name is not Rachael 2) Our last name is not Wilkinson 3) Estella’s name is not Estelle 4) Joel Edgerton’s name is not Russell Crowe … easy mistakes to make, and lovely photography by @julieadamsphotographer. #AWW”
The article features Wilkins with one of his children, Christian. He is also father to Nick, Adam, Rebecca and Estella.
The major mistakes are in the strap on the headline, with a circle pointer referencing “Rachael & Christian Wilkins”, as well as in the extended headline referring to Richard and Christian Wilkinson.
The five-page article was written by Deputy Editor Tiffany Dunk. Thankfully, Editor-in-Chief Nicole Byers didn’t have any mistakes in her editor’s letter.
“In the lead-up to Father’s Day, we also pay tribute to Richard and Christian Wilkins in their dazzling Sydney home,” she wrote. “There we discover an unbreakable bond between a father and son who have learnt to use their differences as a way to unite them.”
More than 130 people commented on the ultimate name-and-shame post, including fellow television presenters Trish Goddard, Sally Obermeder and Lauren Phillips.
When contacted about the errors, Ms Byers said: There is no excusing these mistakes, which were unfortunately the result of human error.
“We extend our sincerest apologies to Richard and Christian, and they took it in the good humour for which they’re known.
“This is certainly not reflective of the high journalistic standards to which The Weekly holds itself, and we have re-evaluated the processes to avoid this happening again in the future.”
It isn’t good timing for the mistakes, given Bauer was recently bought by a new owner, private equity firm Mercury Capital.
Last month, the new owners announced eight high-profile magazine titles would be axed due to the COVID-19 downturn. Having paused several titles in May due to the pandemic, the media company announced the permanent closure of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, InStyle, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Good Health, NW and OK!
“It has been a challenging time for Bauer and our team, with exciting highs and devastating lows in recent months,” Bauer Media chief executive Brendon Hill said.
“We were delighted to acquire Pacific Magazines in May and were thrilled to recently announce a new future under Mercury Capital.
“However, these positive changes have taken place amid an unexpected, uncertain and unrelenting economic downturn. No one could have anticipated the swift, widespread and ongoing impact of the pandemic on our business and industry.”