To this day, the controversial incident in “EXpecially For You” on May 31, 2024 on It's Showtime is still the center of online discussion.

This was after the hosts of the Kapamilya noontime show, particularly Vice Ganda, called out searchee Axel Cruz when he kissed searcher Christine.

On June 1, Axel released a statement. He said he didn't kiss Christine, but just appeared and rubbed shoulders.He apologized if anyone was hurt, and if what he did was misinterpreted.

There were people who sided with Axel, but he was also bashed for not letting the kiss go.

Christine supported Axel's statement in a TikTok video, where she said she didn't feel like the young man was going to kiss her.

Because of this, on June 2, Vice tweeted his intention to apologize to Axel because of his wrong idea.

But on June 4, in the live episode of It's Showtime, Vice retracted the tweet that he would apologize.

"I am taking back my twineet that I will say an apology because I do not need to apologize for what I did. This is my belief, and we also believe that it is not necessary to apologize because what we did was right.”

According to Vice, they chose Axel based on what they saw as hosts, what the majority of the audience saw, and Christine's reaction to Axel's actions.

It is said that there was a question about whether what they did was right or wrong and whether they discriminated against Axel, based on what netizens said that Axel was vilified because of his appearance.

The hosts, unit heads, producers, and psychologists of It's Showtime talked about this issue. They also talked to Christine and Axel again.

Vice revealed that when the It's Showtime staff and the psychologist talked to Christine again on June 3, the latter said that she was really turned off by Axel's behavior.Christine said there was a reason why she said in the TikTok video that she was not turned off, but they said they will not share it.

NETIZENS' OPINIONS

Since then, opinions have been mixed on who is at fault and who should be blamed for the incident.

To me, if I think about it carefully, there seems to be no right or wrong when it comes to netizens giving their opinion. If one reads the comments on social media one by one, it cannot be denied that most of them have a point.

It's just like an argument that Axel shouldn't have been embarrassed on national TV if Vice had calmed down and looked at him properly while they were umeere.

Before they accused Axel of "stealing" a kiss, they first confirmed if this was really his intention and if Cristine was offended by the young man's behavior.

Also because of the matter of "humiliating" Axel, several well-known personalities surfaced and indicated their experience with Vice.

Just like Nikko Natividad and Vivamax actor Nico Locco.

NIKKO NATIVIDAD PAST EXPERIENCE

June 6 when Nikko released his thoughts through a series of postings on Facebook which he immediately deleted.

Nikko's post was full of his pity for what happened to Axel and Christine who were being bashed.

This was followed by a meaningful post, where Nikko shared his experience as one of those who was also humiliated and victimized by power tripping on television.

Nikko didn't mention a name, but it can be deduced that it was a hit with Vice.