Rebel Wilson apologises for claiming to be first plus-sized lead in a romcom
Rebel Wilson has apologised after claiming she was “the first ever plussized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy” while promoting her new film Isn’t It Romantic. In a post on Twitter the actor wrote: “In a couple of wellintentioned 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.”
Wilson had made the original comment when she a guest on The Ellen Show on 31 October, but backtracked after it was pointed out that both Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique had starred in romantic comedies – Last Holiday and Phat Girlz respectively – in 2006.
Wilson’s initial response on social media was to assert it was “a grey area”, writing: “It was questionable as to whether: 1. Technically those ac- tresses were plus size when filming those movies or 2. Technically those films are catorgorized/billed [sic] as a studio rom-com with a sole lead.”
However, a reply from Mo’Nique, asking Wilson to “take a moment and know the history. DON’T BE A PART OF ERASING IT”, prompted a further statement from Wilson: “Hi Monique, it was never my intention to erase anyone else’s achievements and I adore you and Queen Latifah so so much x I support all plus size ladies and everything positive we are doing together.”
Wilson also apologised for blocking Twitter users who had responded negatively to her Ellen Show remarks, including a number of women of colour. “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 … 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.”