Showbiz Roundup: The Denise Julia, BJ Pascual and Killa Kush drama

(From left) BJ Pascual, Denise Julia and Killa Kush. Images: Josh Tolentino via Instagram/@bjpascual, @denisejvlia, @killakushla

Even Christmas was not spared from the drama that stemmed between Denise Julia, BJ Pascual and Killa Kush as the three-way feud made headlines in what was supposed to be a festive season.

The controversial spat stemmed from Pascual making claims about Denise’s alleged “unprofessionalism,” which was agreed on by the content creator.

However, the feud — which included several screenshots posted on December 25 — escalated with the R&B singer hinting at taking the battle to court.

Curious how the feud began? Don’t miss out on the details behind their controversial spat, as well as other trending entertainment headlines from December 20 to 26.

Start of Denise Julia, BJ Pascual and Killa Kush’s feud

Denise Julia and BJ Pascual | Image: Instagram/@denisejvlia, @bjpascual

The spat between Denise Julia, BJ Pascual and Killa Kush began after the celebrity photographer revealed that the singer-songwriter was his “worst celebrity experience” on Killa Kush’s “Bad B*tch Bible” podcast.

“Nanggigigil pa din ako,” Pascual began. “Si Denise Julia. I have heard so many things about her,” he began.

“I guess medyo kasalanan ko rin that I still took the job, and it was more like a passion project because her manager JV (Denise Julia’s manager) called me many times, like, would message me on Instagram, and so we had a meeting,” he admitted.

Pascual detailed his experience being asked to work on Denise’s album cover and music video, and then the latter’s team questioned the expenses and canceling them.

“Ang babayaran na lang nila is manpower and materials. There is no talent fee. This is charity work na,” he said. “Sabi ng manager ko, ‘They want to cancel daw the shoot.’ The reason was nag-flake daw ‘yung hairstylist nila.”

“Girl… This was already 10 PM. Ang call time namin is 6 AM [the next day]. Sya [Denise] 8 AM. How many hours na lang before the shoot? We have been setting the set since 4 PM,” he added.

Pascual also shared that Denise’s camp also declined to pay the cancellation fee, while adding that he ended up shooting another celebrity for the set so as not to go to waste.

“After that, I never heard from her. No thank you, no sorry, no anything. No ‘what happened?’ Nothing,” he recalled.

Denise Julia claps back at BJ’s claims of ‘unprofessionalism’

Denise Julia and BJ Pascual. Image: Instagram/@denisejvlia, @bjpascual

Denise Julia spoke up on BJ Pascual’s claims of “unprofessionalism” against her, clarifying that it was the photographer’s team who canceled their scheduled shoot due to their “differences in production processes.”

She made a tell-all via her Instagram Stories on Christmas Day, including in her posts the screenshots of her manager’s conversation with Pascual’s manager regarding the shoot.

According to the singer-songwriter, her team reached out to Pascual back in May, and they had an online meeting in June, and they also had personal calls to exchange ideas for the shoot.

In July, Denise’s manager gave a budget of P650,000.

But Pascual’s team—despite the former “following up many times”—did not immediately get back to the singer’s team if the “budget is doable.”

“We can’t really have a shoot date without us being sure if the budget is even feasible to them. Because on our end, we understand if this is not something they can work with,” she said.

“We would have pulled back immediately already from the start if they had only told us that this is not doable for them, that that’s not the price range they can work with,” she noted.

However, three days before the shoot and already three weeks after Denise’s team sent their initial budget, Pascual’s team, according to Denise, sent a cost sheet of P1.2 million.

The singer’s team tried to extend their budget to P800,000 because they “really wanted to do this.”

Her manager gave out options so that “none of the efforts go to waste,” although Pascual’s team was only able to adjust the cost to P1 million two days before the shoot.

Denise then showed a screenshot of the conversation between her manager and Pascual’s, in which the singer’s manager pointed out that from experience, “no vendors would do anything without a budget actually agreed upon.”

“I think that’s where the confusion is,” Denise’s manager said in the screenshot.

“I should have been more straightforward with how important it was that we agreed on a number before confirming anything. I thought that was a protocol for y’all as well so I apologize for me assuming that’s the case,” the manager regretted.

Pascual’s manager then replied, “Okay, so due to the differences in our production processes. I think it would be best to cancel the shoot.”

Denise added that her manager had suggested pushing the shoot to a later date. “But ultimately at the end, BJ’s team, not us, canceled the shoot.”

“I am fully acknowledging my mistake for not reaching out after this anymore, but it was because I didn’t know the extent of his frustration until everything aired on social media and it blew off proportion,” Denise said.

Denise Julia threatens legal action vs Killa Kush

Denise Julia (left) and Killa Kush | Image: Instagram/@denisejvlia, @killakushla

Apart from BJ Pascual, Denise Julia is also voicing her grievances against Killa Kush (also known by her real name Acushla Obusan), with a threat to file charges.

On Christmas Day, Kush took to her Instagram stories to express her “devastation” over how her recent podcast episode with Pascual sparked controversy after they aired their experience with Denise.

She shared the context and screenshots of her conversation with the singer and her team about their past collaboration.

“It’s truly devastating how this has played out. I could play the receipts game all day long with all our projects since 2022, but it’s literally Christmas day,” Kush said.

“As a collaborator, I’ve already spent 400K mounting her first album launch event with no down payment (and had to fulfill everything in 4 days), then got paid over a month after,” she wrote.

Kush disclosed more details on the financial damage their previous podcast collaboration supposedly generated.

As Kush detailed the effort and expenses she supposedly shelled out for Denise, she emphasized that airing her side of the story is an attempt to open the conversation about professionalism.

“As a host, my questions and comments on the podcast were never meant to shame anyone but rather to open up the conversation on challenges in the creative industry,” she said.

“I hope this discussion leads to more accountability and professionalism. My focus is to continue sparking meaningful conversations and challenging minds,” she pointed out, noting that she doesn’t want to drop more screenshots.

After her statement, Denise took to X (formerly Twitter) to warn Kush about pursuing legal action, as she described the latter’s statements as a “twisted narrative.”

“Hope you can back up all that when I see you in court,” Denise warned. “‘Check her stories’ and it’s all twisted narrative as usual with business that was between her and a label team; receipts are just her trash-talking behind me and my best friend.”

Denise alleged instances of unprofessionalism on Kush’s part, including late payments for talent fees, exploitative use of her name and image for promotional purposes, and even inappropriate behavior during their initial encounters.

The singer also shared a private conversation between her and Kush, stressing her intent to take the issue to court.

“Lols. Biglang bait,” she captioned the screenshot.

BJ says Denise Julia’s screenshots ‘don’t reflect full context’

BJ Pascual. Image: Instagram/@bjpascual

BJ Pascual clarified parts of the screenshots earlier made public by Denise Julia, stressing that he does not want to escalate the issue but that he just wants to “provide transparency and accountability.”

Pascual, who recently named the singer as the worst celebrity he worked with, responded to Denise’s tell-all about their canceled shoot by sharing screenshots as well of the parts of the conversation between them.

“I appreciate Denise’s recent efforts to address the situation and the conversation we had in the hopes of moving forward,” he said via his Instagram Stories on Christmas Day.

“However, some claims and portions of the images she shared on her IG stories do not reflect the full context of what transpired,” he noticed.

One of the points Pascual raised is that his team was supposedly able to cut the cost of the shoot to accommodate the budget of the group of Denise.

To support his statement, Pascual added a screenshot of the cost sheet his team sent to the singer’s manager.

“Our team made every effort to adjust the budget down to 371K for the one-day shoot, which was below industry standards,” he said.

“This was part of our effort to accommodate their budget and fit within their specific range, contrary to the original P1.2M amount that Denise shared in her IG story. A detail that was not fully addressed in her video,” he explained.

Pascual noted that after giving Denise’s team the discounted cost, the latter told them that they were “not ready” due to their glam team canceling on them.

He said they had managed to secure another glam team for the singer, but her team “still felt unprepared.”

“My intention in sharing the context is not to escalate the matter but to provide transparency and accountability… I hope this brings clarity and closure to the matter, allowing us to move forward constructively,” he said.

“I have already responded personally to Denise yesterday, acknowledging her message and expressing my openness to resolving this further in person.”

Denise Julia mulls defamation suit vs BJ Pascual

Denise Julia and BJ Pascual. Image: Instagram/@denisejvlia, @bjpascual

After disclosing their private conversations regarding their canceled shoot, Denise Julia and BJ Pascual appear to be heading to a legal battle.

This will apparently be the case as the singer expressed intent to file a defamation suit against the photographer, as per her statement on her X page on Christmas Day.

Her post—which includes a screen recording of their managers’ full conversation—came after Pascual made clarifications and shared more images of their teams’ conversation to provide “full context.”

“We went into this wanting to work with you—we’re genuine fans and were so excited about the collaboration,” she said.

“From the very beginning, we were upfront about our budget and what we can afford to execute the music video, the photo shoot, the album art, the trailer and press photos,” she stressed.

“I had moved my entire release date just to be able to work with you, out of respect for your time. I’ve stayed quiet for as long as I could, but I needed to say my piece,” she continued.

Denise reiterated that her manager tried to make the negotiation between her and Pascual’s team work so that “no one’s effort goes to waste.”

“You targeted me to bring me down,” Denise addressed Pascual. “I thought this was something we had agreed to talk about in person… We are now in contact with our legal team about a defamation suit. I hate that this had to go this way when it didn’t have to.”

Pascual has yet to comment, as of press time.

MJ Lastimosa gets dragged into ‘infidelity’ scandal

MJ Lastimosa at the media conference and red carpet premiere of “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital” on Thursday, Dec. 19. | Image: INQUIRER.net/Jessica Ann Evangelista

MJ Lastimosa was in disbelief after learning that her name was dragged into an “infidelity” scandal involving influencer Small Laude’s husband entrepreneur Philip Laude.

During the media con and red carpet premiere of “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital” last Dec. 19, Lastimosa was asked if she was aware that her name was recently mentioned in the viral screenshots involving the intimate exchanges between Philip and her alleged mistress.

In the now-deleted screenshots, Philip was supposedly assuring a woman named Precious Mae Larra that she shouldn’t get jealous of a woman named “MJ” because they were not an item, at the same time trying to “belittle” MJ’s traits.

“Pinagselosan ako? Saan? Hindi ako aware,” she said as reporters filled her in with the information.

“Ang first and last encounter ko with them [Laudes] was in L.A. Nung na-invite ako sa mansion nila. After that, wala naman nangyari. Bakit ako?” she asked.

“Nakilala ko si Ma’am Small and Sir Philip and the family. Lahat sila. Pumasok kami tapos kumakain na sila. Ayun lang. Hi, hello. Mga one hour. That was it. Paano ako nadamay dyan?” Lastimosa wondered with amusement.

Lastimosa was in utter confusion as reporters filled her in with more details about the issue. “Pero ako ba talaga? Eh, hindi naman kami magkakilala. Sure ba kayong ako ‘yon?” she queried.

“Mamaya naman… or baka kasi may mga relationship din na mga selosa lang talaga ‘yung partner. Pero hindi nya naman partner ‘yun, di ba?” she remarked.

Lastimosa was also asked for her reaction, knowing that Philip allegedly “downgraded” her appearance.

“Grabe. I love being maitim. Hindi ko sya kinakahiya. Nagbe-beach nga ako para umitim pa lalo,” she said. “[Pero] sa pageantry, usong uso naman ‘yang laitan. Parang wala na sa ‘kin ‘yan.”

“Basta ako, naniniwala akong maganda ako. Basta pagtingin mo sa salamin, confident ka, okay na po ‘yon,” she maintained.

Lastimosa said she would look for the screenshots to see them for herself.

Meanwhile, Philip and Small Laude have remained quiet about the allegations.

Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Image: Scott A Garfitt, Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File

Blake Lively has accused her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of the movie and a subsequent effort to “destroy” her reputation in a legal complaint.

The complaint obtained by The Associated Press, which The New York Times reported was filed on Dec. 20 with the California Civil Rights Department, precedes a lawsuit.

It names Baldoni, the studio behind the romantic drama “It Ends With Us,” and Baldoni’s publicists among the defendants.

In the complaint, Lively accuses Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation.

This alleged plot followed a meeting in which she and her husband Ryan Reynolds addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and a producer on the movie.

The scheme, the complaint said, included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign, and place news stories critical of Lively.

Baldoni enlisted publicists and crisis managers in a “sophisticated, coordinated and well-financed retaliation plan” meant to “bury” and “destroy” Lively if she went public with her on-set concerns, the complaint alleges.

“To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldoni-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively’s credibility,” the complaint states.

“They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr. Baldoni’s credibility and suppress any negative content about him,” the document reads.

The complaint also says Baldoni “abruptly pivoted away from” the movie’s marketing plan and “used domestic violence ‘survivor content’ to protect his public image.”

Bryan Freedman, an attorney representing Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, called the claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”

He pushed back against Lively’s allegations of a coordinated campaign, saying the studio “proactively” hired a crisis manager “due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production.”

Freedman also said Lively threatened to not appear on set and not to promote the film “if her demands were not met.”

Those demands were not specified in the statement, but Lively’s complaint lists 30 demands that she said Baldoni and others agreed to after their tense sit-down over her hostile work environment concerns.

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut.

But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over a discord between the lead pair.

Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centerstage along with Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for “Deadpool & Wolverine” at the same time.