Rebel Wilson apologises for comment about plus-sized actors

AT FIRST the Aussie actor doubled down on her claim that she is the first plus-sized woman to be the lead in a rom-com, before finally caving and admitting she was wrong.

REBEL Wilson has apologised for claiming she is the first plus-sized woman to be the lead actor in a rom-com and says she’s “deeply sorry” for blocking people on social media who pointed out that she was wrong.

“In a couple of well-intentioned moments, hoping to lift my fellow plus sized women up, I neglected to show the proper respect to those who climbed this mountain before me like Mo’Nique, Queen Latifah, Melissa McCarthy, Ricki Lake and likely many others,” Wilson wrote on Twitter.

“With the help of some very compassionate and well-thought out responses from others on social media, I now realise what I said was not only wrong but also incredibly hurtful. To be part of a problem I was hoping I was helping makes it that much more embarrassing & hard to acknowledge.

“I blocked people on Twitter because I was hurting from the criticism, but those are the people I actually need to hear from more, not less. Again, I am deeply sorry.”

Rebel Wilson has been on The Ellen Show several times. Here she is on the talk show with fellow Aussie, Sia.

The drama started when the Aussie star, 38, went on Ellen last week to promote her upcoming movie, Isn’t It Romantic, which is about a young woman disenchanted with love who mysteriously finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy.

Wilson said on the talk show, “I’m proud to be the first-ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy”.

But viewers quickly took to Twitter to point out to Wilson that plus-sized stars Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique have both anchored rom-coms in the past.

Wilson responded to one of the tweets and initially stood by her claim.

Hey girl! Yeah I of course know of these movies but it was questionable as to whether: 1. Technically those actresses were plus size when filming those movies or 2. Technically those films are catorgorized/billed as a studio rom-com with a sole lead. So there’s a slight grey area

— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) November 1, 2018

Hey my sweet sister. Let’s please not allow this business to erase our talent with giving grey areas and technicalities. Take a moment and know the history. DON’T BE A PART OF ERASING IT. I wish you the best.

— Mo'Nique Worldwide (@moworldwide) November 3, 2018

Playwright Claire Willett also took issue with Wilson’s statement and wrote a long thread about why her comments were harmful.

Wilson later replied, “Great points honey, thank you x will address when promoting the film in proper forums. I’m all about supporting plus size women and I work so hard to do so. I never want to disrespect anyone”.

Wilson then made matters worse by blocking people on Twitter who were pointed out her mistake, resulting in the hashtag #RebelWilsonBlockedMe.

::grin:: #RebelWilsonBlockedMe

(I didn't even say anything super harsh)

Where's the party? pic.twitter.com/piTogG707E

— Geek Ghoul Diva 👻 (@geekgirldiva) November 4, 2018

Ha ha! We serving mimosas at the #RebelWilsonBlockedMe meeting this morning? pic.twitter.com/xgXekYNUVD

— ReBecca “Rebel Wilson Blocked Me” Theodore-Vachon (@FilmFatale_NYC) November 4, 2018

I have been writing about body confidence and plus-size fashion for a decade. When I pointed out that Rebel Wilson is a problematic representative of body confidence given that she has built her career profiting from fat jokes, she blocked me lol. pic.twitter.com/sgneHLVmZe

— Jay Miranda (@jaymiranda_) November 4, 2018

Isn’t It Romantic is due out on Valentine’s Day next year.

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