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MANILA, Philippines — Mo Twister (real name: Mohan Gumatay) is no stranger to controversy. The feisty radio DJ and TV personality, who has a knack for saying the right things at the wrong time (or the wrong things at the right time), was prominent in the rumor mills late last year when he got into a very public fight with now ex-flame Rhian Ramos.
His on- and off-air antics don’t really surprise the public anymore; controversy is his bread and butter.
This morning (May 9) however, the New York-based radio DJ may have finally crossed the line. On his Magic 89.9 radio show “Good Times,” Mo Twister, along with co-hosts Tin Gamboa and Mia Bayuga started the Twitter hashtag #charicepempengcosextape “as a joke.”
The hashtag was a trending topic in the Philippines on Wednesday morning, soon after the trio announced the hashtag on their morning show. According to Twitter user @jampong8810, it was the number one trending topic in the Philippines this morning.
Apologies, mistakes
Magic 89.9 apologized for the incident, saying that the company “does not condone what happened this morning.”
Gumatay, Gamboa, and Bayuga will be suspended without pay for starting “an objectionable hashtag about Charice Pempengco on Twitter.” The station’s official statement was posted on their Facebook page a few hours after the show aired.
Mo turned to Twitter to apologize for the social media snafu. “We attempted to be funny at her expense and, in the process, hurt her feelings. It’s with deep regret that we have come to learn that. On behalf of [Gamboa] and [Bayuga] we apologize, Charice, for our stupid behavior and immature attempt to generate laughs,” he tweeted.
Gamboa also took to Twitter at around 4:30 in the afternoon to apologize as well. “It was horrible judgment on our part, and I would like to thank both those who have condemned it and those to (sic) have remained supportive,” she tweeted, adding that there was no malice involved when they made the hashtag.
According to a report on ABS-CBN News Online, Charice on her official Twitter account said she had thought of Mo Twister as a nice person. “I should talk to you FACE to FACE,” she said on Twitter. She also hinted that she would file a case against Mo Twister, saying that she hoped the radio DJ has a “good lawyer.”
Charice has since deleted those tweets, said the report.
Here’s what people on Twitter had to say about the hashtag:
Media influence gone wrong?
Mo Twister (@djmotwister) is fond of engaging fans and haters alike on Twitter, and has made hashtags—even the more mundane ones—trend in the past. He has over 600,000 followers on Twitter, while Bayuga (@mia899) has 17,408 followers, and Gamboa (@mia899) has more than 31,000 followers.
Charice (@OfficialCharice) has over 777,000 followers on her Twitter.
The Wednesday morning controversy is the latest in a string of incidents wherein media personalities made it into the news themselves. On Sunday, broadcast Mon Tulfo made headlines when he got into a scuffle with showbiz couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Baretto.
The day after on Monday (May 7), Mon Tulfo’s younger brothers, Erwin, Ben, and Raffy threatened Santiago and Baretto on their public service-oriented show on TV5. The younger Tulfos have apologized for the statements made during the show, while TV5 criticized the broadcasters for the episode.
“We are taking necessary actions to deal with this lapse in judgment on the part of the Tulfo brothers and assure the public that we remain committed to objective and impartial journalism,” TV5 said.
While Mo Twister and numerous other radio DJs have been suspended for their on-air antics, this seems to be the first time wherein social media was a factor for their suspension. If there’s something to be learned from the past week, it’s that media personalities don’t always get off scot-free from their on-air “antics,” even if the damage is done over Twitter. – Rappler.com
(What do you think of Mo Twister’s, the Tulfos, and their respective controversies? We want to know what you think. Sound off and tag us on Facebook or send us a tweet @rapplerdotcom.)
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