R&B Filipina singer Denise Julia has broken her silence and spoken out about the controversy involving her and celebrity photographer BJ Pascual, who labeled her as the "worst" person he has worked with following a canceled photoshoot.
On Christmas Day, the up-and-coming artist posted a series of Instagram stories, including screenshots, to explain her side of the story.
She revealed that her team reached out to Pascual in May regarding a proposed album cover project.
Notably, she pointed out that Pascual's team had been slow to respond to their inquiries.
"We were patient and pushed back our deadlines to accommodate BJ’s schedule because we knew that he was booked and busy," the singer stated.
She added that, as a fan, she was willing to adjust her schedule and release date to collaborate with Pascual on the album art.
Denise Julia and Pascual reportedly met twice via Zoom and had several personal calls to exchange ideas, expressing mutual excitement for the project.
Furthermore, the artist's manager then proposed an initial budget of 650,000 in July, which was intended to cover both the photoshoot and a music video.
According to Denise Julia, Pascual insisted on trying a music video for the first time, a suggestion she was open to, as she believed he was genuinely interested in the idea.
"BJ's team did not get back to us about this budget despite my manager checking in and following up to make sure that the budget is doable to begin with because we can't really have a shoot date without us being sure if the budget is even feasible for them," Denise Julia mentioned.
She stated that her team would have understood if the budget was not feasible for Pascual's team and would have pulled back immediately if they had been informed from the start.
The budget was later increased to P800,000, still below the over P1 million estimate provided by Pascual's team.
The singer clarified and denied that her team canceled the shoot, explaining that her manager had even tried to find ways to make it work out of respect for Pascual's team and their time and effort.
"Ultimately, at the end, BJ's team - not us - canceled the shoot, citing the differences in our production processes," said Denise Julia.
The singer shared a screenshot of the final conversation between her manager and Pascual's manager, where her manager explained that, with over a decade of experience in production, no vendor or production company would proceed without an agreed-upon budget due to the associated risks. He noted that this was likely the source of the confusion.
"I should’ve been more straightforward with how important it was that we agreed on a number before confirming anything. I thought that’s protocol for y’all as well so I apologize for me assuming that’s the case. I didn’t expect for work to be done/costs to be incurred without a final budget set," Denise Julia's manager said in the text message.
BJ Pascual's manager then replied saying, "Okay so due to the differences in our production processes, I think it would be best to cancel the shoot. Thank you."
The artist apologized to Pascual in a private conversation after listening to the podcast in which the renowned photographer expressed his frustration and shared his experience.
In the screenshots of Pascual's reply to Denise, he thanked the singer for reaching out and acknowledging the disrespect, financial loss, and inconvenience experienced by his team and everyone involved, who had worked tirelessly in preparation for that day.
"While a sincere apology would certainly be appreciated, I understand this is something you may still be processing. Moving forward, I hope we can all learn something from this experience and work on improving industry practices," said Pascual.
The controversy began with a podcast hosted by Killa Kush, where Pascual revealed details about the shoot, disclosing that Denise Julia is the worst "client" he has ever had.
