Celebrity photographer BJ Pascual did not take lightly insinuations made by a local gossip website about him supposedly “copying” the maternity photos he did of Coleen Garcia from that of supermodel Gigi Hadid.
In a series of Instagram posts, Pascual explained Garcia's photo shoot happened last Aug. 1, several days prior to Hadid's maternity images being made public on Aug. 26.
"Unless may psychic abilities ako, or baka sobrang close siguro kami ni Gigi 'di ko lang alam, walang-wala talagang way para kopyahin namin 'yung shoot nila! Sadyang nagkataon lang. Stop making this an issue," he said.
He then urged naysayers, "Please be respectful naman of Filipino creatives. Some of us actually work hard on conceptualizing shoots to create these images."
Pascual also dissuaded rumormongers from making a mountain out of a molehill, to the point of actually creating a "war" between Garcia's fans and Hadid's.
"Please stop pitting women against each other. Pati ba naman mga buntis? 2020 na. May pandemya pa," he wrote.
In his latest vlog, Pascual revealed the concept behind Garcia's maternity portraits.
According to him, it was inspired by two paintings: The "Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli and "The Swing" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
Garcia confirmed her pregnancy last March.