Rebel Wilson Almost Outed By Publication: Do Celebrities Have No Right To Privacy?

Actor Rebel Wilson recently made her relationship with fashion designer Ramona Agruma public with a post on social media. However, many of her followers on social media have accused Australian publication The Sydney Morning Herald of strong-arming the actor in announcing her relationship. While Wilson posted about Agruma last Friday, the said publication revealed next morning that she had only done so because it had planned to write about it. Does this mean that a media organisation almost forced a person to come out of the closet, for the sake of a great headline?

In an opinion piece that has now been deleted, Andrew Hornery, a columnist for the publication wrote that the Herald had reached out to Wilson with “an abundance of caution and respect” and gave her “two days to comment on her relationship with another woman, LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word.”

Rebel Wilson Almost Outed

It is unfortunate that the media hasn't learnt by 2022 that outing people can have catastrophic consequences for them and puts them through a traumatic experience that could have been easily avoided. While people congratulated Wilson on her relationship and her coming out, when the chatter began doing rounds that she might have done so unwillingly, they were not happy. No person, let alone a celebrity, should have to come out due to panic of having no control over the narrative.

In the opinion piece, Hornery said Wilson “opted to gazump the story”. Hornery said that Wilson did not need to hide her sexuality, as “in an era when same-sex marriage is legal in many parts of the world and — thanks to decades of battling for equality — sexual orientation is no longer something to be hidden, even in Hollywood.”

Suggested Reading: Actor Rebel Wilson Comes Out On Social Media, Introduces Girlfriend Ramona Agruma

This remark, however, disregards Wilson’s right to privacy and glosses over the fact that Wilson was supposed to allow the publication to control her coming out. This is concerning especially since Hornery himself is a gay man who claims to be “well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts”.

The Sydney Morning Herald removed the article about Wilson’s coming out and replaced it with a new one which has also been written by Hornery and in it, he said he regretted his handling of the situation and plans to learn from his mistakes. He spoke about how he had heard that Wilson, a celebrity, was in a happy relationship and as a gossip columnist saw it as a potential story.

Hornery was told by Wilson’s management to put all his questions in an email. He added a deadline to “set out the timeframe”. Wilson’s response would have determined what was published and no decision had been made to publish by that time.

Hornery argued, “My email was never intended to be a threat but to make it clear I was sufficiently confident with my information and to open a conversation.” He also added that it was not the publication’s business to “out” people and that he allowed his disappointment to take over the tone of the column which was "off".

What Is Wrong With Outing?

Outing is when a person’s sexual identity or gender identity is disclosed to a third party without their consent. Outing can range from telling a friend about somebody else’s identity to releasing publicly information without the person concern's consent.

It is a huge invasion of privacy that can put a person at risk. It may not seem like a huge deal for some people, but outing someone can lead to emotional distress. Assuming that someone’s situation and environment are safe enough for them to come out, and outing them is a selfish move that can be dangerous.

But most importantly, a person has the right to their privacy, and if they do not want to come out of the closet, then they should not be forced into coming out.

Does Privacy Of A Celebrity Not Matter?

Hornery said that “Sexual orientation is no longer something to be hidden, even in Hollywood.” It appears that he was operating on the assumption that since the world was a more accepting place for LGBTQIA+ individuals, a celebrity should not worry about coming out of the closet. But coming out of closet is a personal journey which is different for each individual. We are all brought up under different circumstances and the same holds true for how our world views are shaped. Despite all the acceptance out there, people may not feel comfortable coming out or need more time to figure things out. More than encouragement, what such people need is our patience and discretion. And this holds true for celebrities too.

Seeing celebrities only as public figures rather than people dehumanises them and allows others to believe that their right to privacy is not important. Like us, they deserve time and space to come out of the closet, because being a celebrity doesn't meaning signing away the rights to most basic of your rights as a human.

Views expressed are the author's own.