Yesterday, celebrity couple Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia broke their silence on their controversial pre-wedding photoshoot in Ethiopia that has been called “racist” by some of its critics.
According to a joint statement sent to ABS-CBN, the network where the two TV hosts are under, Crawford said that they did not intend to disrespect any culture but that they understand where critics are coming from.
“And looking at it from their perspective, we do still see where they are coming from. Completely. It might not even be about the photos per se, but more on how it comes across and what it could represent,” he said. “We do apologize for how it might have translated and we’re sorry again to those we have offended,” Crawford said.
READ: Here’s the official statement of Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia re their pre-nup photos being tagged as “racist”. pic.twitter.com/5jmh7mImtz
— MJ Felipe (@mjfelipe) March 11, 2018
He also gave a little context to the idea behind the photos. According to the statement, the couple and the team that produced the photos did the shoot in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines.
“We were invited and sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines to do our shoot there for their tourism and capture their natural environment because we were told that tourism helps their economy,” the statement reads. “We had a local guide present throughout the entire duration of the shoot and leisure time in Ethiopia.”
Crawford also said that it was the local guide that suggested they include the priest of Lalibela in one of the controversial shoot layouts and that the children in another photo that raised eyebrows were not forced to join the shoot.
“The kids found [the photo shoot] cool (who were already there) and they really wanted to be a part of the photo so they kept coming into the frame until Oly [the photographer] decided to just include them.”
Crawford said that a local tried making the kids go away and said that they were bothering the shoot, but the team assured it was ok with them and had the kids stay instead.
Crawford, who is half American and grew up in the United States ended the statement by saying that he too has experienced racism and would not intend for others to experience it too.
“I grew up in a very diverse city (Roosevelt Island), and had experienced bullying and racism in my youth because of my being ‘an Asian.’ Trust me, we meant no harm,” he wrote.
The pre-wedding photo shoot he had with his fiance Garcia struck a lot of people’s nerves over the weekend, with many calling it “racist” and accusing them of using Ethiopians as “props.”
https://twitter.com/maegaaan_/status/972412451189739520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fcnnphilippines.com%2Fentertainment%2F2018%2F03%2F11%2FNetizens-hit-Billy-Coleen-over-insensitive-prenup-photos.html
Ako lang ba yung bothered sa prenup photoshoot ni Coleen and Billy? How they posed in their glamorous clothes and used the Ethiopian locals as props? It’s like showing the stark contrast of the rich from the poor.
— eka ♡ (@noitsairwrecka) March 10, 2018
Media in the Philippines is notorious for its inappropriate depictions of race. Just last month, the TV show Bagani was accused of brownfacing their light-skinned actors to look like pre-colonial Filipinos. The entertainment industry is mostly made up of mestizo (mixed-race) celebrities just like Crawford and Garcia, who is half Spanish.
The photos were initially posted online and published in the Metro Magazine website as an “exclusive,” but the article has since been taken down. Metro Magazine is owned by ABS-CBN, the same network that airs Bagani.
However, Oly Ruiz of Metro Photo, the wedding photography company behind the shoot, said that the photos should not be interpreted as racist because they were just trying to highlight the beauty of the place. He also said that those who think the locals were being used as props need to check if they themselves are being racist.
“We talked to these people and even asked permission. It’s actually offensive for people to interpret them as props,” he said. “Why slaves? because they are Africans? Should we have made them wear gowns too? These people are beautiful, how they are shot is how they are in real life, if you see them as slaves then I feel bad for you.”
