Whoopi Goldberg blasts journalist who tried to ‘out’ Rebel Wilson: ‘You knew what you were doing’
Whoopi Goldberg (Getty/Rob Kim) and Rebel Wilson with partner Ramona Agruma (Getty/Alex Goodlett)
Acclaimed actor and outright icon Whoopi Goldberg has joined the blistering backlash against a journalist who tried to go public with details of Rebel Wilson’s new same-sex relationship.
Actor and comedian Rebel Wilson came out on 9 June when she announced that she was dating fashion designer Ramona Agruma. In a heartfelt Instagram post, Wilson described Agruma as her “Disney princess”.
While the majority of Wilson’s followers congratulated her on the new relationship, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery published an article on 11 June, revealing that he had planned to run a story on the couple before they could go public on their own terms.
Hornery also said that Rebel Wilson’s Instagram post had prevented him from getting the scoop himself. The journalist was met with blistering backlash with fans accusing him of trying to ‘out’ Wilson.
He has since apologised and removed the article, saying “it was never my intention” to “inflict that pain” on the Bridesmaids actor.
Whoopi Goldberg has now weighed in on the situation.
Speaking on talk show The View, the Sister Act star said: “There’s a lot of speculation that Rebel came out to get ahead of a tabloid story in the Sydney Morning Herald about her relationship.
“Now, the man who wrote it even apologised, saying it was ‘never his intention to out her’… Well, you know that’s not true.”
Goldberg blasted Hornery, saying: “If it wasn’t your intention, you wouldn’t have done it. If you didn’t want to do it, you shouldn’t have done it. You knew exactly what you were doing.”
The show’s co-host, Sara Haines, also said that Hornery should have been more empathetic towards Wilson, pointing out that Hornery is a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I would not give a quote or talk to a place that’s forcing me to tell a story that I’m not ready to tell,” she added.
Rebel Wilson herself addressed the “hard” situation on Twitter, saying that she was “trying to handle it with grace”.
