Aussie TV star and heartthrob Hugh Sheridan has told of his heartache at having his own ‘coming out’ mocked by the gossip columnist who tried to out Rebel Wilson.
Sheridan told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday how he was left devastated after Andrew Hornery accused him in a Sydney Morning Herald column of ‘selling’ himself as a heterosexual sex symbol’ prior to coming in 2020.
‘To have a fellow human of non conventional-catholic sexuality tear me apart a week after coming out, was one of the most horrific moments of my life on Australian soil,’ he said.
Sheridan came out as sexually fluid – or as he chooses to describe it ‘human’ – back in late 2020 after years of grappling with his personal identity.
Rebel Wilson’s bestie Hugh Sheridan hits out at Sydney Morning Herald and says he remains devastated over an article by the same journalist
Sheridan, with Wilson, came out as ‘fluid’ in 2020 after struggling with his sexuality
In a lengthy piece published on October 25, 2020, Hornery wrote that Sheridan’s same sex relationships were common knowledge within the entertainment industry, and accused the Packed to the Rafters actor of faking ‘straight’ relationships for publicity .
‘(Sheridan’s) same-sex relationships have been well known within showbiz and media circles for years, even while his publicists regularly planted stories of him supposedly dating women.’
The long-time SMH gossip columnist – who is openly gay himself – also claimed he first met Sheridan at the Logies ‘many years’ earlier and that the aspiring actor was openly admiring other men – something Sheridan later claimed was not true.
‘I first met Sheridan before a Logies many years ago. At the time he was playing second fiddle to his sister Zoe, a former television personality who was attending the glittering soiree while her little brother hung out in her hotel suite….Still at acting school, he was smart, talented, charming, handsome and clearly on his way to becoming a big star,’ Hornery wrote.
‘He was also happily talking about which male celebrities he fancied. I presumed he was gay and I was impressed with how confident and at ease he seemed about his sexuality at such a young age.’
Speaking to the Daily Mail Australia, Sheridan – a long time friend of both Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma and the man who initially set the pair up on a blind date – disputed Hornery’s account of their meeting at the Logies.
He also described the article that appeared in the Herald as ‘horrific’ and one that he still struggles to comprehend two years on.
‘Andrew Hornery is a person I did meet at the Logies with my sister, but his recollections of what happened are very different to mine and actually not in my character,’ he said.
Rebel Wilson and Hugh Sheridan are long-time friends and mutual supporters
Sheridan is a longtime friend of Rebel Wilson and introduced her to new love
Hugh briefly dated Kurt Roberts soon after coming out as fluid in 2020
‘It was everyone else I wanted to accept me and accept themselves, but someone from my own community and who knew me, went out of his way to cut me at the knees when I was just learning how to walk again.’
Sheridan also referred to the treatment of Wilson who was given a two day ‘deadline’ by the SMH before they threatened to out her in print.
Hornery and SMH editor Bevan Shields consequently found themselves under fire around the world over its handling of the incident which led to Wilson ‘outing’ herself on Instagram last Friday.
Both Hornery and SMH editor Bevan Shields have since apologised.
‘Last week he did it to my friends, at least now people have noticed what I let slide because I’m used to that kind of venom in the columns.
‘But that really, really hurt,’ Sheridan said.
‘He kicked me when I was at my most vulnerable. (I think) Australia need to take a stand at the grass roots of tall poppy and stop the BS from where it starts.’
‘Hugh was absolutely gutted by the SMH article after his own coming out,’ says close friend
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However Sheridan, who is now based in Los Angeles after relocating from Sydney, said he didn’t want an apology from the SMH over the piece from 2020.
Sheridan said the incident was a reminder of his years studying drama at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney during the early 2000s, when he claimed he was encouraged by some teacher to conceal his sexuality.
‘No, I actually don’t want an apology. His written word reminds me of when I was at NIDA and teachers told me I could never speak of my sexuality or I would not get work.
‘The underlying message was that the world was too homophobic to handle it.
‘I feel sorry for them as I do Andrew.
‘I hope some of this feedback helps him, readers and everyone step into the now and realise the days for labelling and outing is gone. Live and let live. ‘
Meanwhile celebrities from around the world have continued to slam the publication including Whoopi Goldberg who used her position as a host of The View this week to rip into the tabloid.
Rebel Wilson and new love were introduced by Sheridan several months ago
Goldberg was particularly scathing of Hornery’s apology where he said it was never the Herald’s intention to “out” Wilson.
‘If it wasn’t your intention you wouldn’t have done it,’ she said. ‘You knew exactly what you were doing … They say ‘Oh well people want to know’. I don’t care what people want to know, frankly. I want to keep my privacy. It should be my choice if I want to talk about something.’
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