Ramona Agruma: who is Rebel Wilson’s new girlfriend - and Sydney Morning Herald controversy explained

Pitch Perfect star Rebel Wilson has revealed that she has found her “Disney Princess” in a post on Instagram with her new girlfriend Ramona Agruma.

The post, which was liked more than 200,000 times within two hours of being published, ushered in a wave of congratulations for the 42-year-old Australian actress from fans and famous friends, including Anna Kendrick, Jodie Comer and Elizabeth Banks.

The news of her new relationship however has been overshadowed somewhat by the disasterous handling of the reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald after columnist Andrew Hornery complained about being “gazumped” by Wilson when she opted not to respond to a two day deadline that would have seen her and the relationship outed before had publicly said anything.

What did Rebel Wilson say on Instagram?

On Thursday (9 June) Wilson took to Instagram to make her relationship with Ramona Agruma official, writing in 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.”

Wilson shared a picture of herself and Agruma together, and tagged her in the photo.

While comments on the post have been limited by Wilson, a number of her fellow Pitch Perfect co-stars shared their congratulations.

Anna Kendrick wrote “Love you both like crazy” and Brittany Snow also commented with a handful of heart eye emojis.

Elizabeth Banks also commented: “Congrats to both of you” with love heart emojis.

Others who commented on the post included Killing Evealumni Jodie Comer, Alison Brie (Community, Roar), ex-Love Islandstar Montana Brown and author of Untamed Glennon Doyle.

Wilson did not make any statements regarding her sexuality in the Instagram post, choosing not to explicitly label herself as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Who is Ramona Agruma?

Agruma is the founder and designer of a number of brands, including Lemon Ve Limon, a sustainable clothing company based in Los Angeles. Agruma founded Lemon Ve Limon in 2021.

The website states: “Our Mission is to bring you that famous LA sunshine-swag with a focus on environmentally friendly manufacture, fabulous fit and fabric quality that soars well above the competition.

“Perfectly designed for travelling and lounging, every piece of this cosy collection can be mixed and matched with our chill palette and comfy curations.”

Back in 2013, Agruma also founded the luxury jewellery company DeLys, and, according to her social media profiles, serves as the brand’s creative director.

Pieces from the brand have been included in publications like Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, and at the Pitch Perfect 2 premiere in 2015, Wilson’s co-star Hailee Steinfeld was seen wearing jewellery from DeLys.

Agruma also acts as the brand ambassador for another jewellery company, Bee Goddess, which makes handmade pieces in Istanbul.

How did they meet?

While Wilson didn’t name Agruma at the time, she did open up about her relationship in an interview with People last month where she said they met via a “setup through a friend”.

She said: “We spoke on the phone for weeks before weeks before meeting. And that was a really good way to get to know each other. It was a bit old-school in that sense - very romantic.

“I think going through the process of finding more self-worth, I think that what you want in a partner is elevated and so it’s great to have someone who feels like an equal partner and be in a healthy relationship.

“There were times - I’m not saying with all my exes, they’re great - but there were some times that I was probably putting up with what I shouldn’t have. So it feels different to be in a really healthy relationship.”

In May, Wilson talked a bit more about her new relationship on the U Up? dating podcast, hosted by Jordana Abraham and Jared Freid.

She said that the friend who set them up had known “both of us at least five years each, and was like, “Yeah, I think you two would hit it off, and then we did”.

Wilson added: “I think that escalates things quicker, [meeting someone] from a trusted source.”

Wilson’s friend, Australian actor Hugh Sheridan, has since claimed responsibility for setting up the two.

Talking to The Morning Crew’s Hughesy, Ed and Erin, Sheridan said: “I’m a bit of a matchmaker in my spare time. I’ve got a few marriages in there.

“Both were really hard to set up. Ramona is really smart, and Rebel is really smart. I was in New York with my ex and feeling very sad, and Rebel said she can’t imagine how I feel because she’s never been in love before!

“I thought, “Gosh, she’s a hard one to crack”. So I thought of Ramona straight away.”

Sheridan commented on Wilson’s Instagram post with Agruma by writing, “I win” with a heart eye emoji and a trophy emoji.

It’s unclear how long Wilson and Agruma have been together, although they have been photographed together as early as January this year.

Agruma appeared on Wilson’s Instagram in January when they attended a Los Angeles Rams game together and in March they went to the Vanity Fair Oscar party together.

What happened with the Sydney Morning Herald?

Following Wilson’s coming out, it was revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald that the outlet knew about the relationship before the actress went public with it.

In a “Private Sydney” column posted on Saturday (which has since been removed), columnist Andrew Hornery wrote: “It was with an abundance of caution and respect that this media outlet emailed Rebel Wilson’s representatives on Thursday morning, giving her two days to comment on her new relationship with LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word.”

Hornery went on to criticise Wilson, stating that she had opted to “gazump the story” instead of replying to him, adding that “her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming”.

Unsurprisingly, the piece by Hornery was met with backlash, as it amounted, essentially, to the columnist admitting to threatening to out the actress before she was ready.

Journalist Kate Doak tweeted about the situation, writing: “So apparently it wasn’t @RebelWilson’s choice to come out... The @smh/@theage have admitted to giving her a heads up 2 days in advance that they were going to “out” her. What’s wose, openly gay men at the Sydney Morning Herald were involved in this.”

Wilson responded to the tweet from Doak, in which she wrote: “Thanks for your comments, it was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.”

Hornery has since posted a new column, titled “I made mistakes over Rebel Wilson, and will learn from them”, in which he said he “genuinely [regrets] that Rebel found this hard” and that, as a gay man himself, he is “well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts”.

He said that his email regarding his two day deadline for Wilson to comment on his story “was never intended to be a threat” but understood why it may have been seen that way, and that “the framing of it was a mistake”.

Hornery ended the column by writing: “In trying to tell the story within the story, which is what Private Sydney does, the tone of my column on Saturday was also off. I got it wrong. I allowed my disappointment to cast a shadow over the piece. That was not fair and I apologise.”