Xian Gaza probably knew that putting up a billboard asking a famous actress on a coffee date was probably going to get a lot of attention. But not this kind of attention.
Not only were Filipinos quick to point out that this kind of grand gesture was a creepy form of emotional blackmail, but the self-identified CEO’s skeletons began flying out of his closet rather quickly.
In the wee hours of this morning, Gaza wrote a long Facebook post responding to the myriad accusations coming out.
Dewanie Catapang, a social media celebrity from Davao City, was the first to come forward, saying she had previously worked on a T-shirt project started by Gaza that was supposed to benefit victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the 2013 storm that devastated the central Philippines.
Catapang said on Twitter that she was hired to market the project. She agreed, but grew suspicious of the legitimacy of the fundraiser when Gaza would not tell her how many shirts had been sold.
But what finally got her to drop out of the project entirely wasn’t her worries that she may have been involved with a sham, but that Gaza began to flirt with her.
Gaza, however, maintained in yesterday’s statement that the project was legitimate.
“It didn’t pushed [sic] through because the funding that was promised to me ay hindi po dumating at napako (didn’t come),” Gaza said.
He explained that he spent PHP300,000 (US$6,000) for the project, and lost that money when it didn’t happen, adding that the 2,000 shirts produced didn’t sell and were “distributed to different charities.”
Social media scam
A Ryan Salcedo Tanada was the next person to post on Facebook that he had been scammed by Gaza.
Tanada said that he initially got in touch with Gaza to produce an event in partnership with Filipino Vines, a social media venture with which Gaza was involved.
Tanada went on to say that he gave Gaza an amount of money to cover artists’ talent fees, which they apparently never received.
“To make the story short, even if I already knew that there was something fishy about him, I still gave him the money for the talent fee(s) that he said he would give to the artist/artists… just ask Ella Cruz’s mom regarding the whole story of the supposed TF [talent fee] that they never received,” Tanada said on Facebook.
Responding to the issue, Gaza said that he received a P200,000 downpayment from Tanada in November 2016, an amount that was then diverted to the operating expense backlogs of Gazera Media, his joint venture with a Mr. Walter de Vera.
“I partnered with Mr. De Vera last March 2016 on a 50-50 ownership sharing, me as the pure financial partner while him as the industrial partner,” Gaza said.
He added that he was “financially bleeding” and stopped spending because he didn’t not see profitability in the company.
Actress Ella Cruz’ mom
He also addressed accusations by the mom of another Filipina actress named Ella Cruz — one of the performers in Tanada’s show — who claims her daughter was never paid.
The mom told Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) that Gaza had agreed to buy a Toyota SUV from her husband, who runs a used-car business.
“After New Year, nag-ask ulit kami kung may fund na yung check. Ginagawan daw niya ng paraan kasi he’s having financial problems, at andoon nga daw siya sa dad niya para umutang,” Cruz said.
(After New Year, we asked if the check had funds. He said he was figuring it out because he was having financial issues and he was at his dad’s to borrow money)
She also told local media outlets PEP and Inquirer.net that Gaza had stalked her daughter.
“With regards to Madam Jessica Cruz, yes the Toyota Fortuner transaction that we had last December with Mr. Thristan Cruz is true. Nagkasarado kami sa halagang 650K (we agreed to the terms of PHP650,000) on a 2-gives term,” Gaza said.
Why did he do it if he couldn’t afford it?
“I personally pressured myself to take it dahil gusto ko silang i-impress kahit wala naman akong paggagamitan ng unit at wala ring siguradong buyer,” he said.
(I wanted to impress them, even if I don’t have use for the unit and I’m not really a sure buyer.)
“When I found out that the unit is roughly 500K-550K ang (the) market value at luging-lugi ako (and I’m on the losing end of the deal), there I decided not to fund it anymore and nagkasundo nalang na magsolian ng (we just agreed to return the) unit and so with my down payment,” he said.
“Lastly, hindi po ako isang stalker ni (I am not a stalker of) Ella Cruz na nabalita sa (as reported in) Inquirer at Pep.ph,” said Gaza.
Amid the social media attention, Gaza pleaded with the public for understanding.
“Hindi po ako masamang tao (I’m not a bad person). I’m just a perfectly imperfect person with a past full of flaws. Huwag niyo naman po sana pagtulung-tulungang yurakan ang pagkatao ko sa mata ng publiko (Don’t destroy my dignity in the public eye).”
“Ang tanging hangad ko lang po ay kape (the only thing I wanted was coffee) with Erich with no hidden personal agenda at all,” he said.
Gaza said the national and international media attention for the billboard was “unexpected.” And he assured the public he wasn’t trying to be a creeper.
“I just wanna show her how much I like her and using this billboard effort to possibly create an initial friendship with her over coffee. Kung sa pananaw po ninyong lahat na mali po yung specific move ko na iyon ay hinihingi ko po ng tawad sa inyo. Malinis na malinis po ang konsensya at intensyon ko at hindi ko akalaing aabot lahat sa ganito.”
(If you all feel that specific move was wrong, then I ask for forgiveness. My conscience is clear and I didn’t know that this move would blow up like this.)
Given the baggage he apparently has kicking around in his past, it’s fair to say that Mr. Gaza probably should have known the potential outcome of such a very public stunt.
with reports from ABS-CBN
