Rebel Wilson was criticised for a series of social media posts railing against Sydney's new two-week coronavirus lockdown. Photo / via Instagram
Rebel Wilson was criticised for a series of social media posts railing against Sydney's new two-week coronavirus lockdown. Photo / via Instagram
Rebel Wilson copped a lashing on Australia's The Project last night for her comments about Sydney's lockdown, with panellist Steve Price labelling the Aussie actress "smug" and "stupid".
Wilson courted controversy yesterday for a series of social media posts railing against Sydney's new two-week coronavirus lockdown. "Sydney WTF!!!" she wrote, sharing a photo her mother had taken of bare supermarket shelves.
"You can't keep locking down as a strategy," Wilson wrote in another post. Her comments were met with a swift social media backlash yesterday, with some criticising the Aussie star for speaking up given she's based in the US.
Panellist Steve Price labelled the Aussie star 'smug'. Photo / Channel 10
The Project covered the story in Monday night's episode in Australia – and panellist Price especially didn't hold back.
"Not sure smug rock throwing from LA is the way to go for Rebel. I don't think she's done herself favours there, has she? Stupid opinion," he said.
"I'm a bit sick of people not taking celebrities' health advice seriously, to be honest," said panellist Peter Helliar, tongue firmly in cheek. "Next thing, people will be questioning the science behind some of (Gwyneth Paltrow's) Goop products."
But host Waleed Aly offered some possible context for Wilson's comments, suggesting those outside of Australia view lockdowns very differently, some 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic.
"The one thing I would say is, I know a few Australians who live overseas, and it seems to me most of them feel like that," he said.
"I think unless you're here … The whole world thinks we're (overreacting). But they've also never been through what we've been through. It's like two different planets.
"We look at America and the UK and think, how could you possibly live like that and through that? They do the same with us. I think it's just one of those situations."
Rebel Wilson is based in LA. Photo / Getty Images
This latest controversy comes after Wilson faced fierce criticism last year when she took a private jet to the Superbowl at the height of the pandemic, at a time when people were discouraged from moving around to watch the game.
Waleed Aly argued those outside Australia view lockdowns very differently. Photo / Channel 10
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a two-week Sydney-wide lockdown on Saturday as cases of the super-contagious Delta Covid variant continue to spread across the city.
It's the city's first lockdown in six months, and it comes after multiple warnings from the vice president of Australia's peak medical body that the Delta variant lurking across the country "has outrun contact tracers".
Millions of residents in areas across inner Sydney and beyond, including the Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Central Coast, are under stay-at-home restrictions that are in place until July 9.
Not among those in lockdown: Wilson herself, who is currently in Atlanta shooting the upcoming Netflix film Senior Year. Wilson owns a waterfront home in Sydney's Birchgrove along with several investment properties, and divides her time between the Harbour City and Los Angeles.
