Rebel Wilson has responded to criticism she received after claiming on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she was the first ever plus-sized woman to lead in a romantic comedy.
The trailer for Rebel’s rom-com Isn’t It Romantic, was released last week and appearing on Ellen’s Halloween episode to discuss her new movie Rebel said, “I’m proud to be the first-ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy.”
People on Twitter were quick to point out that this wasn’t true, and that actresses’ Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique had led rom-com’s as plus-sized women well before Rebel.
Many have called her comments an erasure of black women in film.
Rebel initially responded to Twitter users by questioning whether the two actresses were plus-sized when they filmed movies such as The Last Holiday and Phat Girlz in 2006.
She tweeted, “There’s a slight grey area”
Academy Award-winning actress Mo’Nique responded to Rebel Wilson’s tweet with one of her own saying “Let’s please not allow this business to erase our talent”.
Rebel has since taken the commentary on board in a series of tweets, responding to Twitter users as well as actress Mo’Nique, writing “it was never my intention to erase anyone else’s achievements.”
Let’s hope Rebel really has taken the comments on board for next time.