“I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess” Rebel wrote in the heartfelt post – which has received more than 1.7 million likes since it was published to her Instagram account on Friday.
In an article written by Andrew Hornery (who is himself openly gay) posted to The Sydney Morning Herald after the post was made, Andrew says SMH emailed Rebel’s representatives, giving Rebel two days to comment on the relationship before they published anything. Rebel ignored this and decided to make the announcement on her own terms, on her own social media.
“Considering how bitterly Wilson had complained about poor journalism standards when she successfully sued Woman’s Day for defamation,” the SMH article reads, “her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming.”
On Twitter, Channel 10’s Kate Doak expressed her disappointment, and Rebel responded.
“Thanks for your comments,” she wrote in reply. “It was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.”
Today (13 May), Andrew Hornery has written another piece – this time admitting the approach to this delicate situation was wrong.
“As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.”
“I understand why my email has been seen as a threat. The framing of it was a mistake.”
