AC Bonifacio, Awra Briguela, and Riva Quenery were bashed by Blackpink fans after the three allegedly made fun of a member’s condition.
During the recent controversial Shopee meet and greet for K-pop girl group Blackpink, member Jennie appeared to be feeling ill and had difficulty in breathing.
AC made a live Instagram video where she, Awra, and Riva apparently made fun of Jennie.
The three have since explained that they were not making fun of Jennie but rather Awra and his way of speaking English.
Awra, however, made a comment that infuriated fans even more. “Sensitive kasi, ang babaw lang nun.”
They apologized on what happened earlier, and then there's awra, he said, "SENSITIVE KASI, ANG BABAW LANG NUN". Wow the audacity. U are cancelledt, bye sister!! #ShopeeScam pic.twitter.com/4lwH6QaHQt
— eleila (@asfghjklei) June 6, 2019
On the Facebook account of Awra Briguela, he posted a lengthy apology and clarification about the incident.
He first clarified that he has difficulty in speaking and understanding English, which is the reason they were laughing in the said video and not because Blackpink’s Jennie was feeling ill.
“Mahina ako sa English, karamihan ng tao alam yan. Nung binasa ko yung comment sa live ni AC na ‘What can you say about other blinks na hindi nakapunta?’ Dun palang natatawa na kami kasi may English yung tanong hindi dahil may mga hindi nakapunta.”
He even said that he was just kept reading the posts and that he was unaware when he answered, “we love you guys” was not good for the question that he read.
“Ako naman, basa lang ng basa hanggang sa di ko namalayan, awkward na pala yung tanong na nabasa ko. Eh kailangan ang sagot ko English at yung pinakamadaling English na alam ko ay, ‘We love you guys.’
“Hindi yun pang aasar, sadyang mahina lang talaga ako sa English at yun yung unang pumasok sa isip ko.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByXnBRyhTjr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Secondly, the young actor explained that it was never his intention to disrespect Jennie because he himself knows the feeling of being disrespected.
“Hindi ko intensyon na i-disrespect si Jennie kasi alam ko yung pakiramdam nang i-disrespect. Aware po kame ako/kami na may sakit siya kaya bakit naman po kame mag bibiro about sa sakit niya?”
He also clarified where he said that what happened was “sick” (in the American slang sense meaning “cool”) and Riva said “like Jennie” which fans mistook as him making fun of Jennie.
“Nung time na yun, nalito din ako sa pagkakaiba ng ‘sick’ na may sakit at ‘sick’ na parang astig. Tumawa kami ddahil sa pag e-English kong mali mali, hindi dahil sa sakit ni Jennie.”
For his third and last point, the actor apologized for saying “Sensitive niyo naman” to Blackpink fans.
“Alam kong nagkamali ako at alam kong tatanga tanga din ako, pero alam kong hindi sapat yung pakakamaling nagawa ko para sabihan niyo ako nang masama o pangarapin niyo na sana mawala na lang ako sa mundong ito.”
In conclusion, he said, “Aminado akong mali na sinabi ko ‘Sensitive nyo naman’ and ‘Parang yun lang,’ pasensiya na kung walang preno yung mga salita ko. Mali na minaliit ko yung problema nyo. Sana mapatawad niyo ako at sana kalimutan na nanangyari.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByXG7vXBdTG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
As of now, netizens are still raging about the issue and as well as Shopee’s controversial meet and greet. Netizens have been tweeting Awra and friends as being “cancelledt” because of what had happened.
