Rebel Wilson has apologised for claiming to be the first ever "plus-size romantic comedy star".
The ‘Bridesmaids’ actress was blasted on social media after making the statement on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ last week, whilst promoting her new rom-com ‘Isn’t It Romantic’.
The 38-year-old comedienne had said on the show: "I had such a ball filming that.
"I always add my own jokes and also I’m kind of proud to be the first ever plus-size girl to be the star of the romantic comedy."
However, after reading people’s comments on Twitter, she realised that there were many more curvy women, including Queen Latifah and Melissa McCarthy, who have been stars of comedy before her, and said she was "deeply sorry" if she offended anyone.
In a lengthy apology on the micro-blogging site, she wrote: "In a couple of well-intentioned 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.
"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. To be part of a problem I was hoping I was helping makes it that much more embarrassing & hard to-
acknowledge. 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. Again, I am deeply sorry. (sic)"
Meanwhile, the ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ star previously admitted she thinks it is her size that makes her funny.
She said: "There’s something about me that people like laughing at."
Recalling the time she had an epiphany to pile on the pounds and focus on comedy, the star added: "I was like, ‘Oh. That girl’s getting a lot of laughs, a lot easier than me. What is it?’ Because I don’t think there’s much difference in talent.
"And I remember distinctly thinking, ‘I think it’s because she’s fatter’. And then, I don’t know if it was mega-conscious, but I thought, ‘How can I get more laughs? Maybe if I was a bit fatter …’ And then suddenly I was fatter, and doing comedy."
Rebel Wilson sorry for claiming to be first plus-size comedy star
