Denise Julia speaks up on controversy with BJ Pascual

Denise Julia, left, and BJ Pascual. Photos from Julia and Pascual’s Instagram accountsDenise Julia addressed early Wednesday the controversy involving her and BJ Pascual, breaking her silence after the renowned celebrity photographer named the rising singer as the “worst” personality he has worked with.

In a recent podcast, Pascual recalled that Julia’s team approached him for a shoot tied to one of her music releases, which ultimately did not push through.

He claimed that Julia’s team attempted to cancel the shoot the night before it was scheduled. In response, Pascual decided to cancel the shoot himself and covered the cancellation fees.

On her Instagram Stories, the “B.A.D.” singer shared her side of the story, confirming that her team did reach out to Pascual in May for a project. However, she noted that the photographer’s team was slow to respond at times, and both parties ultimately could not come to an agreement on the budget.

“Despite us following up many times and not getting replies for weeks at a time… We were patient and pushed back our deadlines to accommodate BJ’s schedule [because] we knew he was booked and busy,” Julia explained on her Instagram Stories. “I actually had to move my release date because I wanted to respect the fact that he was working and he had a lot of things to do.”

Julia also posted screenshots of conversations between her and Pascual’s manager.

The singer shared that their initial budget for the shoot, which included a music video, was set at P650,000 but was later increased to P800,000, which was still below the costs quoted by Pascual’s team estimated at over P1 million.

“BJ’s team did not get back to us about this budget despite my manager checking in and following up to make sure that the budget is doable to begin with because we can’t really have a shoot date without us being sure if the budget is even feasible for them,” she said.

“Because on our end, we understand if this is not something that they can work with. We would’ve pulled back immediately already from the start if they had only told us that this is not doable for them, that’s not the price range that they can work with. We will respect that,” said Julia, who described herself as a fan of Pascual’s work.

Julia said her manager tried “to figure out ways to make [the shoot] work out for respect for BJ’s team and their time and efforts” and denied that her team cancelled the shoot.

“I know in the podcast they said I was the one who cancelled on the shoot, but in reality, my manager was still trying to make it work. He suggested to push the shoot to a later date so that none of the team’s efforts go to waste and also so that cancellation fees don’t incur, but ultimately at the end, BJ’s team, not us, cancelled the shoot, citing the differences in our production processes,” she said.

Julia also acknowledged “my mistake for not reaching out” to Pascual soon after the incident.

“It was because I didn’t know the extent of his frustrations until everything aired out on social media and it blew off of proportion. It is something that I will take with me as I move forward with work,” she said.

Julia revealed that she and Pascual are scheduled to meet in person to address the controversy.