Rebel Wilson apologises for claiming to be "first ever plus-sized" romcom star
The actress says she now realises her comments were "incredibly hurtful" after initially hitting back at people who criticised her
Rebel Wilson has said she is "deeply sorry" for claiming that she was the "first ever plus-sized girl" to lead a romantic comedy.
Star Wilson made the comment last week on the Ellen DeGeneres Show about her new film Isn't It Romantic.
Film fans however were quick to challenge her assertion, pointing out that several black plus-size actresses including Mo'Nique and Queen Latifah had already led romcoms.
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The Australian actress initially hit back against those who challenged her on Twitter, apparently blocking users who made critical comments.
However, the 38-year-old later apologised for her response, saying, "I now realise what I said was not only wrong but also incredibly hurtful".
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After her original claim, one user wrote on Twitter, "I love Rebel Wilson as much as the next girl, but she isn't the first plus sized woman to play the lead in a romantic comedy. Queen Latifah and Mo'Nique have both played romcom leads."
Wilson's reply that it was "questionable" whether those roles counted further ignited the issue.
"Yeah I of course know of these movies but it was questionable as to whether: 1. Technically those actresses were plus size when filming those movies or 2. Technically those films are catorgorized/billed as a studio rom-com with a sole lead. So there’s a slight grey area."
Mo'Nique, star of 2006's The Last Holiday, told her to "take a moment and know the history."
The hashtag #RebelWilsonBlockedMe began to trend as people who made critical comments discovered they could no longer view Wilson's tweets.
Apologising several days after the Twitter row first began, Wilson said she "blocked people on Twitter because I was hurting from the criticism."
She added: "Those are the people I actually need to hear from more, not less."
The Australian actress said she was "deeply sorry," telling fans: "With the help of some very compassionate and well-thought out responses from others on social media, I now realise 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."
