Denise Julia denies canceling photoshoot with BJ Pascual: 'My manager was still trying to make it work'

Budget issue

The music artist recalled that on July 18, they offered a budget of P650,000 to cover both the photoshoot and the music video. 

"We were both very excited for it. I still couldn't believe at the time that I was working with him," she said. "Initially it was just a photoshoot that we planned to do, but BJ kind of insisted that he wanted to try doing a music video for the first time, which I would not be against since even at that time it was surreal for me that he was down to do that."

However, Pascual only confirmed to them the budget three days before the agreed shoot day on Aug. 11, when Julia learned that the estimated costs doubled to P1.2 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 day without us being sure if the budget is even feasible for them," Julia claimed.

"On our end, if this isn't something that they can work with, we would have 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 they can work with. We will respect that and just move on, move past it, and maybe work in the future for a different type of thing where both of us can align," she stressed.

Despite the large costs, her team tried to push through with the collaboration by stretching the budget to P800,000 as they "really wanted to do this."

"We were thinking of not doing the music video anymore and we would just stick to two layouts, so my manager was trying to give out options so that we can still do it, so that none of the efforts go to waste," Julia said.

"After stretching the budget to P800,000, they came back on Aug. 12—two days before the shoot—with a revised amount of P1 million. This is why we wanted to be clear from the very start if the budget that we gave was doable or if it was feasible, because if not, we really would have pulled back from the shoot," she explained, sharing some screenshots of their conversations.

Who called things off?

Reacting to Pascual's claim that her team was the one who called off the shoot, Julia insisted that her manager was still trying to come up with ways to make it work "out of respect for BJ's team and their time and effort."

"He suggesed to push the shoot to a later date so that none of the team's effort go to waste, and also so that cancellation fees don't incur, but ultimately at the end, BJ's team—not us—canceled the shoot, citing the differences in our production processes," the singer said.

"They accepted that we don't align, we didn't agree on the production budget. We had set our own budget way ahead of time so that we could confirm it, and they sent their own budget way too soon to the deadline of the shoot, which is why it didn't work out," she added.

As seen in the screenshots she posted, her manager sent a text to Pascual's team saying: "I should've been more straightforward with how important it was that we agreed on a number before confirming anything. I thought that's protocol for y'all as well so I apologize for me assuming that's the case. I didn't expect for work to be done."

Pascual's manager then replied, "Okay, so due to the differences in our production processes, I think it would be best to cancel the shoot. Thank you."

Apologies and moving forward

Julia noted that she has reached out to the photographer after his statements about her on the podcast, highlighting that she is "fully acknowledging my mistake of not reaching out" to Pascual after the incident.

"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.

She went on, "This is not to put anymore fuel to the fire. It's the first and last time I'm addressing this because BJ and I have discussed it, we will talk in person so that we can find real solutions to address this."

In her apology message that she sent to Pascual, Julia apologized for her "shortcomings as an artist" and for the "unprofessionalism" that he experienced while working with her team.

"To be honest, much of our communication was indirect, and I wasn't fully aware of what was happening communication-wise between our teams. I've always admired and respected you as an artist, which is why it's so painful to know that I let you down," she wrote.

Julia hoped that Pascual's frustrations would have been directly communicated to her instead of being "turned into something public for others to tear apart."

"I want you to know that I did try to meet you halfway, even though there were moments when I felt animosity from you during our interactions. I chose not to address it publicly because I respected you too much to look at it in that way. But it is still something I'd like to discuss," she said.

According to her, she regards the situation as "humbling" and that she would appreciate the chance to have an honest conversation with Pascual to "better understand where I went wrong, share my perspective on how I felt throughout this, and hopefully turn this into something constructive."

Responding to her apology, Pascual expressed his gratitude to Julia for "acknowledging the disrespect, financial loss, and inconvenience" experienced by his team and everyone involved.

"I hold my team in the highest regard and deeply value their dedication, effort, and respect for their work. While a sincere apology would certainly be appreciated, I understand this is something you may still be processing. Moving forward, I hope we can all learn something from this experience and work on improving industry practices," he said.

Julia messaged back and informed him that she was planning to "present the truth" from her side as publich backlash against her had gotten out of hand. Pascual replied that he is "open to discussing it further to work towards a solution that respects both sides." 

This comes a few days after Pascual openly talked about his unpleasant experience with Julia and her team in Killa Kush's podcast that went viral in no time.

“I have heard so many bad things about her, so I guess medyo kasalanan ko rin that I still took the job," Pascual said in his guest appearance/

"Nakita ko naman kasi may potential, may igaganda pa," he continued. "Ang babayaran na lang nila is manpower and materials. There is no talent fee. This is charity work na.”

Some fees were still needed for the production, he said. "Hindi naman libre 'yung pagkain, 'yung studio, but we're handling production so everything is gonna come from us. So lahat 'yan naka-itemize doon sa Excel and syempre may fee pa rin naman ako doon for equipment, my assistants."

The night before the scheduled shoot, however, Pascual said Julia’s team informed him they wanted to cancel it, with her manager insisting that they couldn't commit to the shoot the next day.

Pascual noted they had to pay cancellation fees for the studio, production designer, and the stylist, which he had to pay for. 

Thankfully, they were able to push through with the shoot as another celebrity agreed to do it.

After that incident, he said he "never heard" from Julia again. "No thank you, no sorry, no anything. Nothing," he claimed. 

Julia is known for the hit songs NVMD and B.A.D., among others.