The man behind the viral video that showed fans barging into Lea Salonga’s dressing room after her Broadway show, Here Lies Love, acknowledged the consequences of his actions, but expressed no regrets.
Christopher Carpila, a salon owner and theater enthusiast, aired his side of the story in an exclusive interview with broadcaster couple Julius Babao and Christine Bersola-Babao as a guest in their show Julius and Tintin on One News. The episode was uploaded on Tuesday on their YouTube channel.
The uploader detailed the events that led to their access backstage and into Lea’s dressing room area.
According to Christopher, he and his companions waited for a long time before asking theater personnel where they could see Lea in person. The staff told them that Lea was “inside”.
They were then asked for their names multiple times before they were given permission to meet their idol.
“Wooh! Sobrang saya po namin kasi sabi n’ya sa’min, ‘You can go inside’ na,” Christopher described his excitement at the time.
He said that they were asked to line up for Lea’s “meet and greet” outside her dressing room and noticed that some fans were able to take their photos inside the room.
Christopher also shared that it wasn’t the first time they attempted to take photos with Lea as they had also tried to approach her at the dance floor, but security personnel prevented them from coming near when Lea said, “I don’t know them.”
He specified that he also had videos of these claims, but did not upload them for the privacy of other people captured in the video.
Julius and Tintin commended Lea for setting aside her discomfort and still allowing their pictorial requests with her. Julius asked the fan why he still uploaded the backstage footage, seeing that he already got what he asked for.
Christopher then admitted that although he was thankful to Lea for granting him a photo opportunity, he was still hurt by how their group was initially treated, which is why he uploaded the video.
“Tayong mga Pilipino ‘pag nakakaramdam ng konting sakit ng dibdib, nakakapagpost tayo, nakakapagsalita tayo ng mga bagay na hindi natin alam ang mga nagiging consequences. So ayun po siguro ‘yung nangyari sa akin, dahil sa disappointment lang,” he said.
“Alam ko wala po akong ginawang masama. Alam ko ‘yung pagka-post ko, hindi ko intensyon na manira or ipakita sa buong mundo na ‘yon s’ya. Tulad nang sinabi ko, tao lang. Tao lang na hindi nakapag-isip nang ikinilick,” Christopher owned up to his mistake.
When asked if he regretted posting the video, he answered: “Actually, nirerespeto ko po silang lahat. Hindi ako nagsisisi na pinost ko s’ya. Kasi nga lumuwag ‘yung dibdib ko. Nailabas ko ‘yung disappointment ko, ‘yung sama ng loob na nasa dibdib ko, nailabas ko na siya.”
Christopher also addressed negative comments he garnered from his video, “Alam ko may pinanggagalingan din ‘yung mga sinasabi nila sa akin, ‘yung pang-babash nila, so iniintindi ko na lang po at hindi na lang pinapatulan para po everybody happy.”
Lea had already addressed the issue in a thread of tweets where she emphasized the importance of her boundaries as an artist.
When a fellow theatre actor pointed out that Filipinos are “some of the most entitled fans,” Lea replied with no filter: “That attitude of entitlement gets a FUCK THAT SHIT from me.”
