Award-winning director Joel Lamangan talked about the issue of celebrities being taken advantage of by their higher-ups in the showbiz industry.
In an interview with Pep.ph, Lamangan, who has worked in the industry for more than four decades, said the incident was already considered a normal occurrence.
“Panahon pa ng kopong-kopong, meron na yun. Diyos ko! Ilang mga artista na naging leading man at sumikat, na nanggaling sa bading. Andami! Andami na noon, ‘neng. Hindi lang nabulgar. Ngayon lang nabulgar. Dati noon, secret,” he said.
“Matagal na ang mga ganyan, luma na ang mga kasong yan. Hindi naman yan bago.” he added.
It can be recalled that the said topic was brought up after GMA Sparkle artist Sandro Muhlach publicly accused two independent contractors of the network, Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz, of “forcing” him inside a hotel room several weeks ago.
However, Lamangan believed that Jojo and Richard were good people.
“Mababait yung mga bading na yun. Hindi naman balahura. Mabait si Dode. Kawawa naman yun,” he stated.
Lamangan also said that some celebrities had no choice but to follow the demands of showbiz higher-ups to have a better opportunity.
“Meron na noon pa! Diyos ko, pati mga babae. Sa TV industry, sa pelikula. Kasi, stepping stone yan, e. Gusto mong makilala, gusto mong magka-project. So papatol ka. Wala kang choice,” he stated.
“E kasi, pag wala ka namang pinanghahawakan at wala ka namang mga kakilala, papatol ka kasi gusto mong magkaroon ng trabaho. Gusto mong sumikat kahit papaano,” he added.