Ogie Diaz denies rumors that he has stopped receiving commissions from Liza Soberano
Ogie Diaz has denied a claim on Fast Talk with Boy Abunda that he has no longer been collecting commissions from Liza Soberano for the past two years.
"Hindi totoo iyon. Ang totoo...ay nakakakolekta pa rin naman tayo kahit tapos na 'yung kontrata. Kasi kumbaga nag-overlap 'yung expiration date ng aming kontrata doon sa mga napirmahan pa namin na a month or two before the contract expired. Andon pa 'yung aking pirma," the actress' former talent manager said on a March 13 video from Ogie Diaz Showbiz Update.
Ogie said that even though he kept collecting commissions from Liza, he stopped pushing projects her way as she already expressed her intent to leave. Any inquiries he receives regarding Liza's brand endorsement, he simply redirects to her new management at Careless through their group chat.
"Pero 'yung mga existing na bago mag-expire nakapirma ako, 'yun 'yung tinatrabaho namin kay Liza kahit expired na. Pero sa ngayon, wala na. Malinis na kami," Ogie clarified.
He also said that he never had any problem collecting from his former talent. "In fairness kay Liza, lahat naman walang, wala, hindi naging isyu ang komisyon. Dahil si Liza hindi naman ganon sa pera," Ogie said.
This comes after the second part of Boy Abunda's interview with Liza for episode 36 of Fast Talk was aired last March 13. While he did not cite his source for the claim, Boy did say in a disclaimer for Liza to correct him if he was wrong.
"Nabasa ko rin na in the last two years, correct me if I'm wrong, ay hindi na kumokolekta ng commission si Tito Ogie mo. Is that right, is that wrong?" the host asked the actress.
Liza similarly denied the claim but her responses to Boy seemingly implied that Ogie was behind the claims.
"It's not right. That's incorrect," Liza answered.
"So hindi totoo ang balitang ito?" the talk show host followed up.
Liza shook her head and then expounded while tearing up, "It actually hurts me that he's making up those lies about me, because... I feel like he's trying to make it seem like I wasn't profitable in the past two years that we were working together when he knows my pains. He knows the things that I felt were things that were mishandled and stuff like that. So it's kind of unfair that I feel like he's trying to tarnish my name. And he knows."
She then continued at length about her transactions with Ogie.
"I don't wanna bring this up, but he still gets commissions from some of the endorsements of mine like that still fell under the time that I was under contract with him. Even though he has no more obligations, we told him that he has no more obligations toward me in those endorsements. Literally last month, we gave him a paycheck for an endorsement that was renewed before our contract ended. And kahit na wala na po siyang ginagawa for that, we gave him his commission, because that's what's right. I wouldn't breach my contract," Liza said.
Boy clarified if that was the last time she paid commission to Ogie, to which Liza replied "he's going to get another one this week."
Local media in late February reported that Xian Gaza defended Ogie from critics.
Gaza was quoted as saying: "Bina-bash ka nila at tinatawag na mukhang pera. Nanghihinayang ka daw sa kikitaing pera kay Liza kaya ka kumukuda. Hindi kasi nila alam na wala ka ng kinita kay Liza sa huling dalawang taon ng inyong kontrata."
Liza has been a hot topic online since her viral This is Me vlog, where she bared her true feelings about her showbiz career as a whole, including the concept of love teams. She has since gone on interviews with Bea Alonzo and Boy Abunda, each time gaining renewed public interest with her controversial statements.