OPM singer-songwriter Zack Tabudlo addressed hurtful remarks from netizens after his viral performance video at the University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Paskuhan event sparked comments about his appearance and personal hygiene.
The online reactions stemmed from a clip uploaded by the university on TikTok that showed Tabudlo performing under the midday heat while interacting with the crowd.
Dressed in a fitted light gray shirt and visibly sweating from the high-energy set, the singer became the subject of comments criticizing his body, how he looked, and even claims that he allegedly smelled bad.
@zack.tabudlo paskuhan… elaborate po 😂😭
♬ original sound – Zack Tabudlo
On his own TikTok page, Zack broke his silence and spoke about what he described as an “unspoken rule” among artists and public figures—staying quiet about rumors and personal attacks to protect their names and careers.
@zack.tabudlo please spread kindness. 🫶🏻
♬ original sound – Zack Tabudlo
He shared that while Paskuhan was one of the most exciting events he has performed at and an experience he genuinely enjoyed with its students, popularly known as Thomasians, the online backlash that followed was disheartening.
“A few days ago, I was in an event. It’s called Paskuhan. It’s one of the craziest events I’ve been to. It’s really fun. It was really fun performing for the Thomasians,” Zack said.
“But what happened was there’s this video that’s trending of me being super sweaty, a fitted light gray shirt, and I was just sweating so much because I was performing on stage. I was jumping, and it was noon time and all that,” he explained the fiasco. “There were certain comments in that video regarding how I smelled, how I looked like, how my weight was, and all that. And it’s just very bad.”
While Tabudlo said he has grown numb to rumors after years in the industry, he admitted that the comments still hurt.
“I think I’ve been in the industry for a while that I’ve gone through so much rumors and so much issues that it just, it numbs you and you get to a certain point where you see these comments, it sucks. But at the same time, you’re like, damn people, people don’t change.”
“And to sum it all, I’m painted in social media as this smelly, ugly kid who has an attitude, who’s always late, who doesn’t dress good, who is fat, ugly, and can’t sing,” he lamented the remarks.
Reflecting on his journey from releasing well-loved songs like “Nangangamba” and “Binibini” to experiencing persistent online scrutiny, Tabudlo expressed concern over how such situations can deeply affect individuals, especially those who may not be equipped to handle the pressure.
“For the past few years, past few months, we’ve seen how bad it can go for people who can’t handle the same situations. […] And now social media has become this scary place where you can’t express yourself, your freedom of art, your craft, your music, your fashion, because with one comment that blows up, you’re now painted as this person.”
“Grabe. […] I think it just sucks how this image of what social media made me became the stereotype that you guys know me of now. And now all the dreams that I’ve worked on, which is this artist, becomes a secondary,” he expressed his dismay.
He ended his message by using his platform to promote kindness and empathy, reminding viewers that everyone is human, “We’re all human at the end of the day. I mean, lahat tayo tumatae, lahat tayo pinagpapawisan, lahat tayo nagkakamali sa buhay.”
“Being nice isn’t the hardest thing to do. So, be nice, guys,” Tabudlo said, urging netizens to be more mindful of their words online.
