Emmanuelle Atienza. Image: Instagram/@emmanatienza; TikTok/@emmanatienza

Emmanuelle “Emman” Atienza, the daughter of TV personality Kim Atienza, addressed the criticisms over the “guess the bill” video of her P133,000-worth dinner with friends, saying it was meant as a “joke.”

Atienza, in a now-deleted TikTok video, was seen dining at a restaurant with her friends, including reigning Miss World Philippines Krishnah Gravidez. The clip shows each of them guessing their bill, saying whoever has the closest estimate would pay for it.

Gravidez’s guess was the closest to the bill, which was revealed to be P133,423.99. The beauty queen was then seen giving her card to apparently pay for the meal of the group.

This drew flak from netizens who criticized the group for flaunting how they splurge, which came across to some as an “insensitive” move.

Atienza then spoke up on the matter through a TikTok video on Tuesday, Sept 24, saying the dinner was a birthday treat of her friend and was shouldered by the latter’s agency.

“I find it so stupid that I even have to address this but it has gotten to a point where I feel like I need to. One, the video was a joke,” she said. “I thought it was obvious because we were laughing and the bill was outrageously high number. But apparently, it’s believable that I can pay that much for dinner.”

“…Even if I had paid that much, even if we did have that much money, it is our choice and our freedom to do what we want with money that we earned,” she continued.

Atienza also spoke about a media platform that wrote about the flak on her video and then included the reminder “check your privilege.” The post further stated that the celebrity offspring and her friends should “redistribute their wealth to those most in need of it.”

Responding to this remark, Atienza said, “I’ve been honest about the privileges I’ve been given and the privilege that I have in my life… I’m not ignorant nor do I deny the privilege I’ve been given and I never have been.”

Atienza also pointed out that it was “ironic” that the same page “praised” actress Nadine Lustre for attending an event for a luxury brand.

“If you’re gonna hate on me ‘for being rich,’ you need to do the same to everyone. Because guess what? Your favorite celebrities—not just in the Philippines but worldwide—make more, have more and spend more than I ever have. And on top of that, I doubt any of them are redistributing their wealth,” she stated.

She further stressed, “I, a singular teenage girl, am not responsible for the wealth disparity in the Philippines—contrary to current popular belief. I find it so stupid that people are picking and choosing what to be activists for.”

Meanwhile, Gravidez also addressed the criticisms through her Instagram broadcast channel and said that the video was just a “satire.” She extended her apologies as well to fans whom she “might have disappointed.”

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“Wala po talaga akong binayaran that night. Wala po akong kakayahan to pay an amount like that,” the beauty queen clarified.

“I realized that I need to be more careful next time of involving myself in these type of contents. I should have been more sensitive of what’s happening around us,” Gravidez added. “I feel bad that this issue blew up and I might have disappointed some of you. I’m really sorry po.”

Images: Instagram/@krishnahgravidezgoc (game of chance)

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