BiCol, Ethiopia
Photo via Billy Crawford's Instagram (Screenshot)
Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia

“It’s Showtime” host Billy Crawford and fiance Coleen Garcia drew flak online for their “racist” prenuptial photo shoot done in Ethiopia recently. These photos show BiCol in their elegant ensemble posing together with locals including kids. These photos, although very elegant, weren’t accepted easily by many saying it ‘disrespected’ the locals and their culture as well. Meanwhile, the couple released a statement addressing the issue as seen on MJ Felipe’s Twitter post.

In their statement, Billy and Coleen claim that it was the airlines’ idea to do the shoot in Ethiopia since tourism helps their economy. They did not intend locals of Ethiopia to be in the shoot with them.

BiCol on a ‘sizzling’ plate

Netizens call out BiCol upon the release of their prenuptial photos. They claim that they “appropriate culture.” The photos were also “racist” according to some users.

Since their engagement in 2016, Ethiopian Airlines offered BiCol to do a prenuptial shoot in Ethiopia. They aim to promote the tourism of their country to help the economy. The couple took the chance offered to them.

In a statement released by BiCol, they apologized for the insensitivity showed in these photos. “It’s far from what we intended,” Crawford says. He claims that the locals were warm and accommodating to tourists. “They even gave us some items of clothing to add to the shoot, for which they showed support,” Crawford adds. See MJ Felipe’s Twitter post below.

During the shoot, Crawford mentions that the kids were around them throughout. They were about to finish when the kids kept on getting in the frame. Another local even kept on asking the kids to leave the shoot but they kept on coming back. But after a few frames, the team allowed the kids to be in the photos.

Crawford says that it was all different during the shoot. He remembered how they interacted with the locals throughout their stay in the country. Crawford claims that they never forced anyone or wanted to disrespect any race or culture. He also explains that the team pre-styled them for the shoot. That is the reason why they are in lavish outfits. Crawford asks the people to put into consideration the other photos in the shoot. “There is more to it than that,” he adds.

As of press writing, My Metro Photo deleted the posts. Garcia said in a post that the photos were from last year. The couple is set to get married in the first week of April this year.

Netizens’ reaction to the photoshoot

One pointed out how the locals of Ethiopia looked like “props.”

The official statement of the couple on the issue.

Some other photos on the Ethiopian shoot.

While others got mad, others made memes.

That includes Asia’s Song Bird, Regine Velasquez.

Parang namiss ko si @billycrawford miss you friend 😂😂😂

A post shared by reginevalcasid (@reginevalcasid) on

 

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He thought that he would stop writing when he entered college. He was wrong. Although he took up Architecture in the first year, his heart navigated its way back to what he does best. Now he's a Communication student and a full-time random notebook-scribbler.

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