Rebel Wilson’s attempted outing at the hands of an Australian newspaper was a shocking and revealing window into our current moment. On the one hand, it showed that many people still feel entitled to know the sexual preferences of celebrities and treat them as a commercial scoop — but more profoundly, the reaction to this event shows us just how much has changed from the days when the media outing people was considered normal.
Transcript
Rebel Wilson’s attempted outing at the hands of an Australian newspaper was a shocking and revealing window into our current moment.
“An Australian journalist admitted that he gave her a two-day deadline to comment on her new relationship.” - Cheryl Hickey, ET Canada
On the one hand, it showed that many people still feel entitled to know the sexual preferences of celebrities and treat them as a commercial scoop – but more profoundly, the reaction to this event shows us just how much has changed from the days when the media outing people was considered normal.
When The Sydney Morning Herald informed Rebel they were about to reveal her same-sex relationship to the world without her consent, Rebel took the power away from them by posting on her Instagram first – and the public rushed to support her and condemn the Herald’s snarky response.
Not too long ago, in this situation, tabloids would have held all the power. Their huge circulations and mammoth budgets meant they could act with impunity, making famous people extremely vulnerable in their quest to sell as much as possible.
Now, though, celebrities can hit back instantly, or in the case of Rebel, even before the story has come out.
Here’s our take on the uncomfortable outing of Rebel Wilson, and why it might prove we’re finally moving on from the shocking history of tabloids targeting LGBT people for profitable scoops.
The Problem of Forced Outings
At first, it felt like Rebel had come out voluntarily. On June 9th, she posted a photo on Instagram of herself with fashion designer Ramona Agruma with the caption: “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess 💗🌈💗#loveislove.”
But two days later, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery complained in his weekly celebrity column that Wilson had “gazumped” him, as he was ready to pull the trigger on the news of their relationship that week. While Rebel remained pretty silent on the affair, she did make her feelings known via Twitter, saying: “it was a very hard situation, but trying to handle it with grace.”
There’s a long history of tabloids outing people. In 2020, British TV presenter Philip Schofield came out live on one of the UK’s biggest morning TV shows in a very emotional piece that was celebrated as a real act of courage.
“I’ve made this decision, which is essential for me and essential for my head, and that’s principally the reason that I’ve done this.” - Phillip Schofield, ITV This Morning
However, it was then revealed that he was effectively blackmailed by the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid The Sun. Back in 1990, The Sun used the same tactics against English footballer Justin Fashanu. He never played football again, and then tragically took his own life. Even Gawker had an uncomfortable history of outing people, one of whom – Peter Thiel – was the man who funded the lawsuit that eventually led to their closure.
All these examples – culminating in Rebel’s case – demonstrate a sense of entitlement the tabloids still feel toward LGBT people. In Hornery’s initial article, he claimed it was a “big mistake” for the Herald to respect the journalistic standard of giving her a chance to comment before publishing the article about her relationship, and he strangely rationalized that because she’s until now been publicly identified as straight, it’s “unlikely” that she’s experienced “discrimination let alone homophobia.” Overall, the article expresses a tone of disdain toward Wilson for not letting the paper reveal the news of her relationship. But it’s patently absurd for this publication to feel so wronged that they didn’t get to forcibly “out” someone.
“We would have asked the same question had Wilson’s partner been a man. To say the Herald outed Wilson is wrong.” - Sky News Australia
For all the Herald’s saying after the fact that this was meant to be a “happy story,” the paper’s disdain wasn’t really because Rebel was being secretive, but because she hurt their bottom line. And it’s unconvincing when Horney’s article suggests there isn’t a difference between covering her past relationships and exposing her first public same-sex relationship before she’s had a chance to address it on her terms.
The Guardian’s Eleanor Morgan writes: “Some people find [coming out] relatively straightforward. Others experience layers of inner conflict, fearing discrimination or potential marginalization from their families or communities. If we ignore these individual differences, we turn someone’s sexuality into a commodity – something that can be used for self-serving benefits. Like clicks.”
The Public Good of Coming Out
Forced outing is an act of violence. Not only is it an invasion of privacy, it assumes that the process of understanding your sexuality is simple and one-size-fits-all. At its most harmful, the traumatic effects of being unwillingly outed have led to suicide.
“Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are somewhere between three and five times more likely to report making a suicide attempt compared to their heterosexual peers.” - Dr. Brian Mustanski, Cronkite News
At the same time, when done right, coming out stories are a big positive. They give young queer people more representation, work to destigmatize toxic, old-fashioned notions of homosexuality and other minoritized identities, and allow people to live as their most authentic selves.
“I met someone, and they make me feel so happy. That someone is a guy.” - Tom Daley, “Something I want to say…”
We’ve also seen in recent years how the press has helped with these stories. Caitlyn Jenner’s “Call Me Caitlyn” Vogue cover felt like a watershed moment, while Elliot Page coming out as a trans man in the public eye has been a profound, powerful education for some people about that process.
“What I wanna focus on right now that’s been so extraordinary is the degree of joy that I feel, the degree of presence that I feel.” - Elliot Page, Late Night with Seth Meyers
In the UK, for a long time, there’s been speculation about who would come out as the first gay male professional soccer player, and when it finally did happen in 2022 it wasn’t a salacious tabloid scoop, but a carefully managed process in conjunction with Sky Sports.
“I feel like I’m ready to tell people about my story, I want people to know the real me.” - Jake Daniels, Sky News
But until pretty recently, a far more harmful style of speculation was a long-accepted focus of entertainment media. Before Eliot Page transitioned, he was outed as a bisexual by LGBT blog V-Generations, which wrote: “In times like these when young gay people commit suicide out of fear of rejection, role models are needed.” And for years, there was rampant and regular speculation as to whether Kristen Stewart was a lesbian, culminating in her refusal to define her sexuality in a 2016 Variety interview.
“The sort of fervent question that was demanded of me for so long is now ridiculous.” - Kristen Stewart, Howard Stern
While there is increasing frustration with celebrities who intentionally keep their sexuality private or ambiguous in today’s more accepting landscape, the reaction to Rebel Wilson’s experience has clarified the cultural consensus as stories of LGBT people are theirs to share whenever they feel comfortable, and nobody is entitled to an inside “scoop.”
An illustration of the sea-change around outing came in the unlikely place of the reality show Survivor: Game Changers in 2017. One contestant, former news anchor Jeff Varner, outed another, Zeke Smith, as transgender as a way to score points in the game, claiming it was evidence Zeke wasn’t an honest person.
“Why haven’t you told anybody you’re transgender? What I’m showing is a deception.” - Jeff Varner, Survivor: Game Changers
But immediately, Jeff’s plan backfired. In the aftermath, all the power was returned to Zeke. Rather than the clip being left in for dramatic reasons, Zeke consented to its inclusion. He had already discussed with the show’s producers the potential good impact his story might have on the show’s audience, and while it happened in a pretty shocking way, he turned it into a positive.
“By showing what happened maybe it wouldn’t happen to someone else, and something good could come of it.” Zeke Smith, The Talk
Ironically, both Andrew Hornery and Jeff Varner are gay themselves – so they go to show that even those who should know best that forced outing is unacceptable can still fall into the trap of selling out another person’s privacy for personal gain. Still, much like the other contestants rushed to defend Zeke, it’s comforting that the speed and ferocity of the response to support Rebel proves we’re mostly on the same page about how serious and consequential this matter can be.
Reclaiming the Power
Rebel’s ability to retain control of her narrative also speaks to how different the celebrity gossip industrial complex is in the social media age.
Traditionally, celebrities and the media engaged in a mutually beneficial relationship. The media knew that celebrity scoops gave them increased eyeballs, while celebrities knew that the media provided access to communicate with their audience and fans. But this stopped being an even relationship around the 2000s, as tabloid journalism reached its peak power.
In the aughts, the perfect storm of old-fashioned tabloids and new bloggers came together to create an arms race for celebrity content, which came at the extreme expense of celebrity wellbeing. Examples like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan suffered breakdowns and serious mental health issues that were exacerbated if not caused by predatory paparazzi.
“You have to realize that we’re people, and we need privacy and we need our respect.” - Britney Spears, Dateline
Now, there are more tools available for celebrities to circumvent the mainstream media by, essentially, scooping the tabloids with their own social media. Vice’s Sophie Wilkinson wrote in 2016 how Taylor Swift, spotting a paparazzi with a long-lens camera taking photos of her on holiday, simply uploaded a selfie to Instagram, beating him to the punch.
Artists like Britney Spears and Kesha have used social media to give their side of the story for ongoing legal battles – Britney using her Instagram to explain the truth about her conservatorship, and Kesha using hers to talk about her court case against producer Dr. Luke. And Emily Ratajkowski, who rose to fame as that girl in Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video, has successfully rebranded as an essayist and commentator who’s interrogated how her image – something that intrinsically belonged to her – was made into a commodity for the benefit of other people.
“I told everyone that that felt like an empowering experience, but I think that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized it’s a little more complicated, and I feel a responsibility to tell young girls that.” - Emily Ratajkowski, CBS
Social media enables celebrities to guide their own narrative, debunk things in real-time, and be judicious about what they share. It also has the authenticity of coming straight from the source, while the agendas and motives of tabloids have come under attack in recent years.
“I just think there has been a section of our press that has been become… has been allowed to become toxic over the past 20 or 30 years.” - Hugh Grant, The Telegraph
And now, it feels like a lot of tabloid journalism is led by social media. Today’s tabloid articles are likely to be about dissecting a celebrity’s Instagram or TikTok, rather than an exclusive, scandalous reveal that’s not controlled by the person in question. Celebrity gossip sites increasingly feel like aggregators for what those celebrities have posted themselves on their socials.
There’s still clearly an appetite for wanting to know more about the inner worlds of our favorite celebrities. But even if some predatory journalists still continue to disregard boundaries, at least the public reaction to Rebel Wilson’s situation goes to show that the rest of us are getting better at knowing where to draw the line.
Sources
Hornery, Andrew. “Rebel Starts Spreading the News of Relationship.” Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 2022
Mermaids Press. “EXCLUSIVE: Mermaids’ Research into Newspaper Coverage on Trans Issues.”Mermaids UK, 18 Nov. 2019 https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/exclusive-mermaids-research-into-newspaper-coverage-on-trans-issues/
“SCHOFIELD EXCLUSIVE: New Sun Chief Newton ‘Blackmailed’ Phillip Schofield to Come Out Live on TV.” Byline Investigates, 9 Mar. 2020 https://bylineinvestigates.com/2020/03/09/schofield-exclusive-new-sun-chief-newton-blackmailed-phillip-schofield-to-come-out-live-on-t/
Lopez, German. “Agree with Peter Thiel or Not, Gawker Acted Irresponsibly by Outing Gay People for Years.” Vox, 26 May 2016
Schwartz, Arielle P. “Why Outing Can Be Deadly.” National LGBTQ Task Force, 20 Feb. 2014 https://www.thetaskforce.org/why-outing-can-be-deadly/
Barnert, Deanna. “Ellen Page and the Karma of Outing Gay Hollywood.” SheKnows, 25 Aug. 2011 https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/839627/ellen-page-and-the-bad-karma-of-outing-gay-hollywood/
Setodeeh, Ramin. “Kristen Stewart Lets Down Her Guard: Inside Her Reinvention.” Variety, 9 May 2016
Wilkinson, Sophie. “Tabloids Are Pissed Off That LGBT Celebrities Can Come Out Without Them.” VICE, 4 Feb. 2016 https://www.vice.com/en/article/mvx8d8/british-tabloids-are-butthurt-that-lgbt-celebrities-can-come-out-without-them
Elizabeth, De. “Kesha’s Instagrams After Dr. Luke Ruling Are a Must-Read.” Teen Vogue, 24 Aug. 2016 https://www.teenvogue.com/story/kesha-instagrams-after-dropping-dr-luke-charges