BJ Pascual claims Denise Julia's team canceled a shoot at the last minute: 'No thank you, no sorry'

Celebrity photographer BJ Pascual recalled a collaboration with the team of R&B singer Denise Julia that left a bitter taste in his mouth after they allegedly canceled a photoshoot at the last minute and refused to pay any fees.

Serving as a guest on a recent episode of Killa Kush's podcast, Pascual was asked about the worst celebrity he has ever worked with for a shoot.

After warning that he was "very candid about these things," he proceeded to reveal that it was Denise Julia.

"I have heard so many bad things about her, so I gues medyo kasalanan ko rin that I still took the job," Pascual said.

He recounted that it was Julia's manager JV who would frequently reach out to him to discuss the photoshoot, which they regarded as a passion project.

"At the time, I was very creatively burnt out and parang looking for something new to do so I was like, 'Oh my god, yes.' I'm a fan of her music. I love supporting young people. In the beginning, they want someone to shoot her lang, change her image, and level up lang," he said.

"A few months later, tumawag sa'kin. May bagong album, bagong single, so they wanted me to shoot the album cover. I was like, 'Sige, game!'" he continued.

Pascual was looking forward to the project to the point that he even volunteered to do the music video as he had never done one before. He then invited his friends from the industry to collaborate with him such as top set designer Princess Barretto, even though they've also been hearing some unpleasant things about Julia.

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

According to Pascual, the only thing that was gonna come from Julia's end was her make-up and hairstylist.

He noted that he was "really looking forward to a relationship" with the singer, adding that he "wanted to support queer artists."

Despite the charity work, Pascual said that fees were still involved during the production.

"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," he detailed.

The day before the shoot, Pascual and Julia's team supposedly held a meeting to discuss the costs.

"Reading the screenshots now, makikita mo eh na parang namamahalan sila doon sa cost, but it was the day before the shoot. What can we do? And syempre, binook na namin 'yung studio," he said.

The studio, Pascual said, requires full payment if the booking is made at the last minute. They had to pay about P80,000 to reserve it.

But things started to go south when Pascual was informed that Julia's team wanted to cancel the shoot.

"The reason was nag-flake daw 'yung hairstylist nila. This was already 10 p.m. Call time namin is 6 a.m. [the next day, and si Denise] 8 a.m. How many hours na lang before the shoot? We have been setting the set since 4 p.m.," he said.

According to Pascual, Julia's manager insisted that they couldn't commit to the shoot the next day, but the photographer reasoned out that they had to pay cancellation fees for the studio, production designer, and the stylist.

"Biglang nag backtrack si manager, 'Why did you go with everything, wala pa naman daw confirmation.' Walang confirmation? Excuse me! This is the day before the shoot and kayo ang nagpumilit magshoot on this day," he argued.

"Ayun, ayaw nilang ituloy. Ayaw magbayad. I was so stressed because I was shooting until 10 or 11 p.m. that night for another thing. I was like, 'I know I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight.'"

In the end, Pascual had to pay for everything, but he managed to salvage their hardwork by calling another celebrity to schedule a photoshoot.

"Magshoot na lang tayo ng iba. May ibang mas deserve ng ganda rito kasi sayang, ang ganda ng mga set. Sarah Lahbati has been wanting to shoot pero never kami nagkaroon ng time together," he said.

Lahbati was kind enough to split the costs with him, and they completed all of the planned sets.

"Nahihiya rin ako sa mga taong naabala. 'Yung bayad na 'yun sa kanila parang pa-thank you na lang 'yun for the time and effort. Everyone wanted to make you look good and for that to happen parang sayang 'yung work nila. Pero at least may nagawa pa rin kami," Pascual said.

After that incident, he said he "never heard from her" again.

"No thank you, no sorry, no anything. Nothing," he claimed.

Julia has yet to comment on Pascual's claims. PhilSTAR L!fe has also reached out to her to ask for her side of the story, but has yet to receive a reply.

As seen in her latest Instagram story, she's taking a social media break starting on Dec. 21 to "detox from the digital world." Julia wrote that she has deleted her apps and will be back in an unspecified date next year.

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