Rica Peralejo clarifies viral remark about Heart Evangelista: 'I love her dearly and I have no inggit'
Rica Peralejo apologized to those who were offended by her viral post about not comparing oneself to celebrities, where she referenced actress Heart Evangelista and pointed out that she's not struggling "like most of us."
In a now-deleted post on Threads, Peralejo gave her two cents on how to be on the same "level" as Evangelista’s beauty.
"Para maging Heart E levels ang ganda natin is not only to Aivee ha. It is also those little unseen things. 'Yung hindi siya napupuyat kaka-alaga ng anak, hindi siya nagluluto, 'di naghuhugas ng pinggan, hindi siya nagbubuhat ng mga bagahe, hindi natutulog sa substandard materials or places. In short: Hindi siya nahihirapan like most of us."
"This is not a critique of Heart or celebs kasi work nila 'yan, na maging maganda. Pero dapat ilugar natin sa realidad natin so we don't suffer from false comparisons," she added.
Peralejo later issued a TikTok video clarifying her post, which she had also taken down.
On her Facebook account, Peralejo made another statement emphasizing that she "really didn’t mean anything ill" of what she said.
"My conversations then on Threads with some people were decent and it helped me see where it could be connected in a way that didn’t get my point across effectively. So I rewrote it. I thought that was all I needed to do," she said.
"I didn’t think that those who were offended wanted more. I really honestly felt like if they read my whole thing, they would see I was merely taken out of context," she continued.
The former actress expressed her confusion as to why other people were claiming that she was hating on Evangelista because of her post. She was also criticized for dragging Evangelista's name and got accused of being "insensitive" about her wanting to have a baby and "invalidating" the struggles of celebrities like her.
Peralejo admitted that she shouldn't have mentioned any name in her post.
"Using a name took away the focus from my point. I didn’t realize that until people were getting offended. It was a belated realization," she wrote.
Regarding motherhood, she stressed that it was not the point of her post but acknowledged that she could see why the construction of her words could make others connect it to those topics.
"When I rewrote it, I made sure to include more obvious examples of women in general and not just moms. Also please know that I could never even think this because I was one of those who cried for her and messaged her when I heard of the news 'cause naranasan ko na din 'yun," she said.
'I wish I thought more before posting'
Peralejo asserted that she "never meant to invalidate" and that she was "merely talking about how non-celebrities have little struggles that make it futile to compare themselves with the celebrities."
"Some are asking for [an] apology and here I give it. I honestly didn’t want to in the beginning because I felt like some really went too far and have become unfair. Nevertheless it stays true that some were offended and were so hurt because my post came across as invalidating and insensitive," she wrote.
"I want to say that I wish I thought more before posting that thing but the truth is I did, and I really saw nothing wrong about it because it wasn’t my intention. But intention is not enough and you really only find out sometimes that not everyone can understand your way of talking or that your words could have been put together in a better way once you put it out there," she added.
She went on to say that she has now messaged Evangelista already amid the issue.
"She had taken the time to reply to my video, as well. I thank her for graciously clearing this up. That is what matters most to me, that she knows me and I could never be one who is against her in any way as we’ve been able to work with each other closely for so many years before," she said.
"I love her dearly and I have no inggit or anything towards her," she stressed.
Peralejo was referring to Evangelista's comment on her TikTok video where the latter wrote, "Don’t worry, Ate Rix. Matagal na tayo. Love you always and always."
Peralejo ended her post by asking social media users to put the issue to rest.
In the comments section, many of her followers praised her for the "honest" and "humble" statement in response to the criticisms.
"Rica, thank you for modeling humility and receptiveness to feedback. It takes a big person to publicly acknowledge where you went wrong, apologize, and show what you’ve corrected," one user wrote.
Another one said, "I appreciate your humility and genuine kindness. You are a shining beacon in a world full of hate and negativity."