Australian gossip columnist who threatened to ‘out’ Rebel Wilson as gay addresses controversy AGAIN: ‘I apologised for being churlish and causing them distress’
Andrew Hornery has once again addressed the controversial moment he ‘got it wrong’ and threatened to out Rebel Wilson as gay.
Penning one of his ‘300-word celebrity romance stories’, he revealed in June he confronted the Pitch Perfect star about her secret same-sex relationship with Ramona Agruma, forcing her to come out before he could release the news.
The gossip columnist reflected on the scandal in another Sydney Morning Herald column on Saturday in which he reminisced on his inability to ‘read the room’ before expressing his regret at attempting to ‘pull back the curtains’ on ‘celebritydom’.
Andrew Hornery (pictured) has once again addressed the controversial moment he ‘got it wrong’ and threatened to out Rebel Wilson as gay
‘Never before has one of my 300-word celebrity romance stories – in which I mistakenly vented my frustrations at trying to get someone to talk – caused such a backlash,’ he wrote.
‘Clearly, I got it wrong and hadn’t read the room. It gave me pause to reflect on what I do, and how I do it in 2022.
‘I apologised to Wilson and Agruma for being churlish and causing them distress, and the Herald deleted the story.’
Penning one of his ‘300-word celebrity romance stories’, he revealed in June he confronted the Pitch Perfect star, 42, (right) about her secret same-sex relationship with Ramona Agruma (left), forcing her to come out as gay before he could release the news
Hornery went on to say his ‘childhood heroes’, Cher and Whoopi Goldberg, ‘admonished’ his actions, and he’s now wary of penning celebrity stories in the future.
‘I have emerged more circumspect when it comes to the journalistically opaque world of reporting on celebrity lives amid the artifice of the social media age,’ he said.
He finished his yearly reflection by wishing Wilson, 42, and Agruma a happy new year and congratulating them on ‘going from strength to strength’ in 2022.
The gossip columnist reflected on the scandal in another Sydney Morning Herald column on Saturday in which he reminisced on his inability to ‘read the room’ before expressing his regret at attempting to ‘pull back the curtains’ on ‘celebritydom’
The Hollywood actress came out in June with a gushing Instagram post announcing her new love of six months, to the delight of her 11.1 million followers.
‘I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,’ Rebel captioned the post.
Hornery subsequently hit out at Wilson’s decision to ‘gazump’ his scoop, arguing he found out about the relationship and was going to publish a story about it.
‘Clearly, I got it wrong and hadn’t read the room. It gave me pause to reflect on what I do, and how I do it in 2022,’ he said
He said he gave Wilson two days to respond to questioning, effectively forcing the actress’ hand.
A wave of backlash followed in response to Hornery planning to ‘out’ Wilson, and then complaining about her taking control of the announcement.
Hornery apologised days later, insisting it was never his intention to ‘inflict pain’ by contacting Wilson about her romance with Agruma.
He finished his yearly reflection by wishing Wilson and Agruma a happy new year and congratulating them on ‘going from strength to strength’ in 2022
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