BJ Pascual calls Denise Julia out for photoshoot unprofessionalism

Celebrity photographer BJ Pascual trended on social media on Saturday after sharing his stressful experience with singer Denise Julia's team during an episode of Killa Kush's podcast.

Pascual recounted his "worst celebrity" experience, describing it as one of the most challenging in his career.

"This is a very recent, sobrang recent nito, ito na ‘yung bago kong worst, top. Like Kristine Hermosa is an angel now. This one has many levels — professionalism, financial," Pascual shared on the podcast. "Nang-gigigil pa din ako," he added.

Pascual acknowledged hearing negative feedback about working with Denise Julia but chose to take the job.

"I guess medyo kasalanan ko rin that I still took the job, and it was more like a passion project coz her manager JV (Denise Julia's manager) called me many times, like, would message me on Instagram and so we had a meeting," he explained.

Creatively burned out at the time, Pascual wanted to support artists like Denise Julia.

"That time I was creatively burned out. And looking for something new to do, ganyan so I yes and I am a fan of her. Her music, I support especially queer artists. I love supporting young people and in the beginning, they wanted someone to shoot her lang parang change her image level up daw and I was like 'go favorite ko ang mga ganyan’ mga imi-make over na ganyan," he said.

Months later, Denise Julia's team approached Pascual again for a new album and single. They asked him to shoot the album cover and work on the music video. Pascual, eager to take on a creative challenge, agreed.

"Few months later, tumawag sa akin — bagong album, bagong single — so they wanted me to shoot the album cover, and I was like, sige game. That time, I was looking for something new to do, so I volunteered to do the album cover and I also wanna do the music video," he said.

Pascual enlisted his friends, including Princess Barretto for set design and Lyn Alumno for styling, emphasizing that their contributions were unpaid.

"Ang babayaran na lang nila is manpower and materials. There is no talent fee. This is charity work na," he said.

Last-Minute cancellation

Despite a smooth start, issues arose during a meeting with Denise Julia's team. They questioned expenses, including meals for 30 people — many of whom came from their side. Pascual had already covered costs for the set and studio due to the last-minute nature of the shoot.

"Sabi ng manager ko, 'They want to cancel daw the shoot.' The reason was nag-flake daw 'yung hairstylist nila," he said.

By 10 PM, Pascual learned the shoot was being canceled, leaving him to manage the fallout.

"Girl... this was already 10 PM. Ang call time namin is 6 AM (the next day). Siya (Denise) 8 AM How many hours na lang before the shoot? We have been setting the set since 4 PM. Biglang nag-backtrack si manager," Pascual shared.

Moving forward

Rather than dwell on the stressful situation, Pascual quickly pivoted. He reached out to close friend Sarah Lahbati, who agreed to a shoot the next day.

"Mag-shoot na lang tayo ng iba. May ibang mas deserve ng ganda dito. Sayang kasi ang ganda ng mga set... Sarah has been wanting to shoot pero never kami nagkaroon ng time to shoot together," Pascual said, noting that Lahbati offered to split costs with him.

Pascual expressed sympathy for those who helped him with the canceled project.

"Nahihiya ako sa mga taong naabala. 'Yung bayad na 'yun sa kanila, pa-thank you na lang sa kanila kasi for the time and effort. Everyone wanted you to look good... Pero at least may nagawa pa rin kami," he shared.

Pascual ended the story by revealing that he never heard back from Denise Julia or her team.

"After that, I never heard from her. No thank you, no sorry, no anything. No, what happened. Nothing."