Talent handler Ogie Diaz responded to one of the alleged comments of an AlDub fan who claimed that his interview with Maine Mendoza painted the latter a “liar and heartless mother.”
AlDub is the portmanteau of the names of Alden Richards and Maine’s “Yaya Dub” character in “Eat Bulaga‘s” “Kalyeserye” segment that aired from July 2015 to December 2016.
“Yaya Dub” is short for her character’s name, Yaya Divina Ursula Bukbukova (Dub) Smash, the nanny in the onscreen trio of Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros in the noontime show.
The onscreen name was also a reference to how Maine became famous in the first place — through her viral Dubsmash videos, where she dubbed personalities like Kris Aquino.
Last Thursday, Ogie released an interview with Maine on YouTube. During the interview, the host shared how he admired her for revealing her true love life rather than sticking to her onscreen partner to maintain their fandom.
“May mga taong hindi gusto ‘yung gano’n. Parang gusto nila na nafi-feed ‘yung imagination nila and for lack of a better term, delusion nila,” Maine said before.
“Pero mas okay kasi na early on pa lang, paalam mo na ‘yong totoo. Pwede naman tayong mag-enjoy, ma-entertain na alam natin ‘yong katotohanan na wala tayong sinasaktan or ida-damage,” she added.
The “Eat Bulaga” host said that while she is grateful to those who supported her since the start of her showbiz career, she does not want to “fool” the public for the sake of money and fame.
“Marami na rin namang nakatanggap. Iyong iba, nag-stop na mag-support, which is totally okay lang din naman. Pero meron pa rin po na hanggang ngayon, kumakapit pa rin do’n. So ayon, ‘yung hindi ko rin ma-tolerate. I tried calling them out couple of times already. Pero ayaw po rin nilang maniwala,” Maine said.
She added that she messaged some diehard fans believing rumors that she and Alden are married and have kids.
According to Maine, her interview with Ogie was her “chance” to address the false claims once and for all.
“I would take this chance kasi ‘yong iba, sabi mag-asawa kami ni Alden, may anak na kami. Marami na rin akong mga tao na ni-direct message sa Twitter to tell them na wala pong katotohanan. Ako na mismo ‘yung nagme-message sa kanila, pero ang reply nila sa akin, ‘Hindi si Maine ‘yan. Admin ‘yan ng account ni Maine. May asawa na si Maine, may anak na si Maine’,” she said.
“Umabot na lang ako sa point na nakakapagod na mag-explain. I don’t think there’s something I can do para sa mga taong ito,” Maine added.
The AlDub tandem went their separate ways in mid-2018.
The year after, Maine went public with her relationship with actor-turned-politician Rep. Arjo Atayde (Quezon City, First District).
Reports said they have been together for over three years already. The two got engaged in July this year.
A cult?
Following the interview, a video that featured AlDub fans singing “If We Hold On Together” with candlesticks went viral.
Toward the end of the clip, one of the fans declared, “Mabuhay ang AlDub nation! Mabuhay si Alden! Mabuhay si Maine! Mabuhay ang AlDub!”
Each phrase was followed by other fans responding with, “Mabuhay!”
The video was initially posted by a now-non-existent Twitter account with the handle @nmasistio.
Meanwhile, Ogie took to Twitter to question why some AlDub fans supposedly hate him after interviewing Maine.
“Totoo ba na nagagalit ‘yung ibang Aldub fans sa one-on-one interview ko kay Maine Mendoza?” he wrote with pleading eyes emoji last Saturday.
A Twitter user answered in the affirmative and shared an alleged screengrab of a fan claiming Ogie’s video was the “worst interview” of Maine.
The fan alleged that the comedian made the actress appear “a liar and a heartless mother who denied her children’s existence.”
Ogie read the screengrab and commented, “Ang ending nito, may apo na ang AlDub.” He accompanied his tweet with a laughing-with-tears emoji.
“Ba’t ako bina-bash ng AlDub fans? Ininterbyu ko lang naman si Maine Mendoza?” he tweeted again on the same day.
Fans’ response
An AlDub fan on Sunday shared a supposed statement addressing comments likening their fandom to a “cult” following the viral video.
“To all TBADN detractors, ADN/TBADN will never be a cult as those being spread by malicious bashers of the fandom,” the alleged statement said.
ADN in the initials refers to “AlDub Nation,” a fan group of the AlDub tandem.
“It was a one-time event where the candle ceremony was held in (the) prelude to closing prayer to close the event. A cult meets on a regular basis,” the statement read.
“A cult has 1 charismatic leader whereas ADN has NO KNOWN LEADER… everyone can be a leader if they have a project in mind. Our group happened to be the leaders for (the) October 23 event (’cause) we organized the event. Just like the October 16 party had its own leader, as well as December 4… each one independent of each other. So HOW CAN THAT BE TAGGED AS A CULT,” it added.
“This fandom has always been all out with respect to helping others (that are) less fortunate. We had community services, medical missions, relief operations for those affected by calamities, feeding programs, scholarships, etc,” it said. continued.
“We have adhered to the advocacies and standards set by Alden (and) Maine during KS (KalyeSerye) DAYS and (are) adhering to our humanitarian causes on how we treat others. IF BY DOING SO, (YOU) WILL TAG US NAMES, SO BE IT. BUT WE REMAIN FIRM IN OUR STAN FOR ALDUB (AND) THEIR ADVOCACIES,” it added.
In 2019, Richard Faulkerson Sr, the father of Alden, addressed the diehard fans with the following tweet: “Laitiin niyo na po ako… itatayo ko na ko na po buong buo ko… walang asawa at anak si Richard R. Faulkerson Jr.”
