Bulgar to Catriona Gray over ‘fake’ topless photo: ‘We’re not your enemy, we’ll help you clear your name’
MANILA, Philippines — The entertainment editor of Bulgar has maintained that the tabloid was helping Catriona Gray clear her name regarding a “fake” topless photo of the beauty queen.
“I understand how you felt when this news came out. It’s a natural reaction of a person being destroyed helplessly, especially you’re holding the most prestigious title,” Bulgar entertainment editor Janice Navida wrote in a letter addressed to the Miss Universe 2018 winner dated Tuesday.
“But please consider to understand that we are not here to be your enemy but to help you clear your name ‘coz we know the feeling that you are being talked about behind your back and you have no way to defend yourself,” she added.
Navida’s letter comes days after Gray demanded a public apology from the tabloid and P10 million in legal damages, as the paper’s Facebook post and article regarding the photos brought “immeasurable damage” to the beauty queen.
Gray also previously sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to track down the person who made and published the photo on social media.
But Navida, in her letter, said that the intention of the tabloid on the allegedly fake photo was to inform readers and Gray’s camp, and not to malign the beauty queen’s reputation.
“That is why when we learned that this indecent topless photo that allegedly claims to be you, our intention is to inform the readers, not just you and your camp, that someone, or maybe a group of people, is doing this, spreading the obscene photo through online to destroy your name,” Navida said.
“This, in fact, is supported by the article that was published in our newspaper under the Insider column of Ms. Melba Llanera dated July 19, 2020,” the editor added.
“It’s clearly stated there that ‘Kung sakaling totoo ito at hindi edited lang, ‘di na namin papangalanan pero tiyak na may ideya na ang ibang tao kung sino ang maaaring nasa likod ng paglalabas nito.'”
(If it is indeed true and not just edited, we will not name the person but other people have an idea on who is behind the sharing of the photos.)
The Bulgar editor hopes that Gray sees their intention of helping her clear her name.
“I hope too that you may see our intention to help you in clearing your name to the whole universe that the nude photo circulating online is fake and edited only, that’s why when we learned about your clarification on the matter, we quickly posted your camp’s statement on our Facebook page and website to enlighten everybody about that controversial photo,” Navida said.”
“I believe you are smart enough to see clearly the whole situation and you can understand our side as a media entity,” the editor added.
“Thank you so much for your most precious time and for giving us the opportunity to be heard. I hope we can have the chance to meet in person in the future.”
