Rebel Wilson, an Aussie who has spent the last several years kicking absolute arse in Hollywood and carving out a successful comedy career, has this week been the subject of numerous articles speculating about her actual name and age.
A number of Australian media organisations seem determined to ‘out’ Wilson for her real age, with a series of articles like this one going back as far as February, as old school friends come out of the woodwork, scanned yearbook pics in hand.
This morning, there are articles like this one circulating, stating that Wilson’s age has finally, triumphantly been “revealed” via ASIC documents, relating to production companies she formed in the 2000s.
Now, cards on the table here – we’re pretty big Rebel Wilson fans around these parts, so on an entirely subjective level, we wish that people would just back away and let Rebel do Rebel.
The actress herself Tweeted out about the story yesterday, and accused the Australian media of “tall poppy syndrome”, and it seems like that’s pretty much what we’ve got on our hands, an attempt to cut down a successful and accomplished person because …
Actually, we’re stumped about that. Why go after Wilson to try and expose an aspect of her personal life that clearly, for whatever reason, she might not feel comfortable discussing?
Because she’s full of herself and needs to be brought down a peg or two? Because picking at somebody for their perceived failings is more fun than celebrating their success?
Entertainment journalism is built on the notion that holy wow, celebrities aren’t perfect, and have weird flaws and faults just like we do, and we’ll gladly cop to having waded in that pool on more than one occasion.
In this instance, though, we don’t want to join in the gleeful gotcha chorus and refuse to give a stuff about Rebel Wilson’s real name and age. Love your work, Rebel, and until next time:
Photo: Jason Merritt via Getty Images
