Rebel Wilson tweets apology after backlash over 'plus-sized' claims

Los Angeles: Rebel Wilson has apologised for the comments she had made about "plus-sized" women actors in Hollywood.

The Australian actor, who will be next seen opposite Liam Hemsworth in "Isn't It Romantic", had claimed in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres that she will be "first-ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy".

When social media users reminded her that actors Queen Latifah and Mo'Nique had fronted romantic comedies before, Wilson said there was a "grey area" around how those films were categorised.

After further backlash, the actor tweeted an apology.

"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," Wilson wrote. 

"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," she added.

"Isn't It Romantic", directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, also features Priyanka Chopra and Adam DeVine.