Cherie Gil apologizes to Vice Ganda

Seasoned actress Cherie Gil grabbed the chance of appearing as ‘hurado’ in “It’s Showtime” to personally get to know Vice Ganda and apologize to him.

It will be recalled that Cherie tweeted her strong objection to Vice Ganda’s “rape joke” about Jessica Soho and the comedian's swipe at Sen. Nancy Binay’s complexion in his May 2013 show at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Cherie tweeted, “To Vice Ganda: you're one of those scums of the earth. Shame on the Filipinos who laugh at such insensitivity and tactlessness.”

Authenticity and honesty

Cherie became emotional after Vice Ganda’s heartwarming song on acceptance and hope in the show’s “Magpasikat” segment.

She addressed the host-comedian: “Now, I personally would like to apologize to you because I know that at some point in the past, I have reacted to one of your stand-up stints, which was perhaps written by someone else. I didn’t keep that into consideration that time. I also found myself in a bad place and I got a lot of hate tweets for that. I realized, that at the end of the day, it all comes down to getting to know the person, understanding every story that a person goes through. Today, I saw your authenticity and your honesty.”

She borrowed a line from a song Vice Ganda wrote.

“Ikaw ay tuwid, ako ay hindi, pero hindi ibig sabihin ako ay mali.”

Cherie admitted she judged Vice Ganda without knowing who he really is.

“That was the first time I saw you do stand-up and I understand how you touch every man’s heart sa iyong natural wit, intelligence. And you really reach out to them in the most natural and honest way. And you seldom find this in this business.”

The message, not the image

Cherie added that it’s more important to impart a message rather than just project a celebrity image.

“After 35 years in this business, what can I leave in this business aside from my famous line in the movie? It’s not the image but the message we give to inspire people. Thank you Vice Ganda so much for letting me get to know you today in the deepest, most real sense and for letting me get to know you as a person through that song.”

Before his production number with Ryan Bang and children with special needs, Vice Ganda said he wanted the performance to be more relevant and inspiring.

“Isang awit na maaaring mag-iwan ng isang mensahe. Mawala man ako sa mundong ito, hindi n'yo man ulit ako mapanuod sa “Showtime,” maging huli man ang performance na ito, mawala man ang imahe na nagawa ko, meron akong maiiwan na malalim na mensahe.”