The cast of Netflix film “Dead Kids” replied to Kapamilya actress Alex Gonzaga‘s tweets with emojis in an attempt to edit her response on the shutdown of media giant ABS-CBN.
Lead stars Vance Larena, Gabby Padilla and Jan Silverio replied to the actress turned vlogger’s post with emojis of a happy face, clowns and representations of a person putting trash in a garbage can, respectively.
Gonzaga tweeted a series of crying emojis on Tuesday evening, in response to the news that her home network ABS-CBN is going off the air.
The network’s shutdown is in compliance with the National Telecommunications Commission order for it to cease its broadcasting operations after the expiration of its legislative franchise.
The franchise renewal was supposed to be tackled by the House of Representatives but it has been stalled after refusals to hear bills and the move of the government’s lawyer to invalidate its franchise before the Supreme Court.
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In view of this, several celebrities expressed their disappointment over the NTC’s order.
Among the celebrity reactions that gained traction on local Twitter was Gonzaga’s crying emojis.
A number of cast members of the first Filipino Netflix film replied to Gonzaga’s comment in their own ways as an attempt to seemingly correct her.
Larena retweeted her post and wrote a series of smiley emojis instead.
Padilla responded to the actress’s tweet with a series of clown emojis while Silverio commented a series of symbols representing a person putting trash in a garbage can.
Film director Kip Oebanda also responded on the similar thread with monkey emojis after seeing the actors’ comments.
The thread amused some local Twitter users who commented that the actors “shaded” Gonzaga who was perceived to be a supporter of the Duterte administration, whose head openly condemned the media network during several instances.
“Shade,” or “throw shade,” is defined by Merriam-Webster as a “subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, sometimes not.”
“The shade, Vance. The shade,” a Twitter user commented.
“I love the shade,” another online user wrote.
“GRABE SHADE HAHAHAHA,” said another online user.
A Filipino likewise praised the Dead Kids actors for their move, commenting that they’re “brave” for responding to Gonzaga in such a frank manner.
Gonzaga did not only post emojis but also shared a photo of Carlo Katigbak, ABS-CBN’s president and chief executive officer. The photo she posted was taken by reporter Jeff Canoy before the network officially went off the air.
Our president CLK earlier in the newsroom. He is really the best. Proud to be a kapamilya! 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/jR6Teb7530
— Alex Gonzaga (@Mscathygonzaga) May 5, 2020
The case of Alex G
Gonzaga is perceived by some Filipinos as a supporter of the administration headed by President Rodrigo Duterte who has severely criticized and threatened the network in matters of renewing its legislative franchise.
During the 2019 midterm elections, Gonzaga supported her father who ran for the mayoral position in Taytay, Rizal under the Juan Movement party-list.
Showbiz blog Fashion Pulis reported that when a citizen criticized Gonzaga about her family’s political affiliation in an Instagram post, the actress replied that she only supports their “advocacy.”
The Filipino wrote, “Pera pera na lang talaga… Kampon ni Duterte pamilya niyo, kadiri.”
The comment gained several other replies but the entertainment blog only took a screenshot of the part where Gonzaga directly responded to the citizen who called the actress out.
“Hindi ba pwedeng maniwala at sumuporta sa advocacy nila?” she replied.
In May last year, Gonzaga and other local celebrities were also spotted in a private dinner hosted by Duterte and his partner Honeylet Avaceña in Malacañan.
The actress’ sister, Toni Gonzaga, revealed that they didn’t know the reason why they were invited but assumed it was because of Robin Padilla, who is a vocal supporter of the chief executive.
