Charice camp accuses Rex Smith of starting ruckus

CHARICE. File photo by ARNOLD ALMACEN

MANILA, Philippines—“I’m not just speaking for Charice, but for other local artists, as well. We give respect to all visiting foreign acts, so I hope they reciprocate,” Charice Pempengco’s manager Glenn Aldueza said, after his ward was reportedly insulted by American recording artist Rex Smith, while rehearsing for a corporate event at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City on Tuesday.

Aldueza said that Charice was in the middle of doing a sound check with her Filipino-American musical director, Troy Laureta, at the hotel’s ballroom at around 2 p.m., when Smith stormed the stage and caused a commotion.

“Smith started pointing his finger at Charice, and told her to stop what she was doing. Smith then engaged Laureta in a verbal tussle when the latter pointed out that they were rehearsing,” Aldueza told the Inquirer.

Smith, who’s also a theater actor, became famous in the 1970s for his hits  “You Take My Breath Away” and “Simply Jessie.”

“He started it,” Aldueza stressed. “Charice was shocked, but didn’t answer back. She told me that she has performed around the world and worked with many foreign artists, but this was the first time she was treated with such disrespect.”

Meanwhile, in a statement sent to the Inquirer, Ovation Production’s Renen de Guia insisted that the incident was a case of misunderstanding, and that it was Charice’s “rude” musical director who caused the altercation, yelling “Get the f***of my stage” at Smith.

De Guia described Laureta’s actions as “un-Filipino.” Smith decided to drop by the ballroom just to take a quick look at where he will be performing. He was not even aware that there will be another act featured before him, which was Charice,” he said.

“He went straight to the stage and made a comment about the setup; he thought it was his…Smith was suddenly shouted at by Charice’s musical director. We were all shocked!” De Guia related. “It was only then that we realized that it was Charice who was having a sound check.”

“Smith would not have gone on stage if he knew someone else was having a sound check,” De Guia pointed out, adding that the shouting match wouldn’t have happened had Smith been politely informed by Laureta.

“Smith loves Filipinos immensely and Filipinos love him back,” De Guia added.

The veteran concert promoter said he approached Charice and his group to “sincerely apologize” for the untoward incident. Still, Aldueza said his camp was seeking for a personal apology from Smith, “especially since Charice is a girl and is much younger.”

“They said Smith will personally apologize to us, but that didn’t happen,” he said.

First posted February 14, 2014 | 7:59 pm