Rebel Wilson apologizes to Black Twitter for misleading claims

Nov 6, 2018

Rebel Wilson is apologizing after she (falsely) claimed that she is the first plus-size woman to nab a starring role in a major romantic comedy, and then blocked members of Black Twitter who reminded her that women of color had already accomplished the same feat ages ago.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wilson first made the claim last week, when she boasted during The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she is the “first-ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy.”

Wilson is currently promoting her upcoming film Isn’t It Romantic in which stars opposite Liam Hemsworth.

When Twitter caught wind of the declaration, one user quickly pointed out that actresses like Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique have had lead characters in the genre while being plus sized; Latifah in The Last Holiday and Just Wright and Mo’Nique’s lead role in Phat Girlz.

Instead of thanking people for keeping her honest, Wilson instead questioned if these ladies roles could be counted.

“I of course know of these movies,” she tweeted in response. “But it was questionable as to whether: 1. Technically those actresses were plus size when filming those movies or 2. Technically those films are categorized/billed as a studio rom-com with a sole lead. So there’s a slight grey area.”

Given that Black erasure in Hollywood is such a hot topic, that dismissal didn’t go over too well, and soon the 38-year-old Australian actress began blocking every Black person who responded to her; including members of the press.

Monday, when the heat hadn’t subsided, the actress apologized for her initial actions and explained why she spent all weekend hitting the block button.

Rebel Wilson tryna block more Black folks than voter suppression. Damn.

— George M Johnson Garçon (@IamGMJohnson) November 4, 2018

“In a couple of well-intentioned moments, hoping to lift my fellow plus sized women up, I neglected to show the proper respect to those who climbed this mountain before me like Mo’Nique, Queen Latifah, Melissa McCarthy, Ricki Lake, and likely many others,” she wrote.

“With the help of some very compassionate and well-thought out responses from others on social media, I now realize what I said was not only wrong but also incredibly hurtful. To be part of a problem I was hoping I was helping makes it that much more embarrassing & hard to acknowledge.”

“I blocked people on Twitter because I was hurting from the criticism, but those are the people I actually need to hear from more, not less,” Wilson continued. “Again, I am deeply sorry.”

Rebel Wilson’s block list is the closest we’re ever going to get to an official roster for black Twitter

— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) November 5, 2018