Anne Curtis was denied the chance to greet her fans during the 8th USTv Student’s Choice Kickoff Party last Thursday, November 10.

Anne Curtis revealed the incident on her Twitter account saying she was prohibited by a staff of GMA Network to go up on stage to say hi to her fans, following the cancellation of her supposed live performance during the event:

“Thomasians, I’m sorry I had to leave na. I tried to at least get up on stage and say hi kahit 2 minutes lang but GMA staff didn’t want.”

“Thomasians, I was there on the left side of the stage & told them kahit d na ako kumanta babati Lang ng Hi and Hello but GMA Staff said no.”

PEP.ph was able to get the side of GMA Network regarding the incident. A source from the Kapuso network said Curtis was 3 hours late from the scheduled call time for the performers.

“We were simply sticking to the programme sequence provided by the organizers” – this was GMA-7’s response to Anne Curtis’s tweets.

Here is GMA’s side of the story:

1. Prior to the event, network representatives had been briefed by the organizers/UST about the sequence of the programme. This was to be the basis for arranging our artists’ schedules and determining their call time for the event.

2. Based on the schedule, GMA artists were supposed to perform at 7 pm. Our talents were at the venue as early as 5 pm. Last-minute insertion of ABS-CBN’s Banana Split cast in the programme however further pushed back the schedule.

3. Shortly before GMA’s number, GMA representatives confirmed the programme sequence with organizers. We were told that the Kapuso artists would be next. GMA was not aware nor informed by the organizers in any prior meeting that Anne Curtis will be part of the program.

4. When the GMA artists were about to go on stage, Anne Curtis, her handler and a student organizer approached a GMA representative to ask if she could go on stage first.

However, GMA staff declined and instructed the floor director and production staff to please proceed with the programme sequence, as the Kapuso stars also had other schedules to go to, and by this time were already waiting for nearly three hours.

5. GMA later found out that Ms. Curtis had left the venue and had tweeted about the incident.

Anne Curtis, on the other hand, explained on Twitter that she didn’t arrive late as what the statement from GMA said.

Here’s her follow-up tweet:

“Firstly, if you read my twitter timeline I didn’t arrive late at 8pm. I was asked by UST people to be there between 7-7:30 and they had told my Road Manager as soon as I get there it would be my turn.. If you want an exact time I was there at 7:10 according to driver. O diba? Join din ang driver ko sa drama. Haha. No, but seriously, they told me naman since TV5 people were performing already they opted to put me after TV5 artists & before the GMA artists.”

Curtis also pointed out that she did arrived earlier than the GMA artists who were also set to perform that night:

“What I meant when I said nauna ako sa GMA Artists dun was that the USTv staff called me to go on stage coz it was my turn. When I got backstage pababa na ung Artists of TV5 and I didn’t see anyone from GMA except the lady representing GMA.”

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN with its head of Corporate Communications Bong Osorio, has released a short statement regarding the incident.

“Ang pangyayari ay hindi nakontrol ng organizers ng USTv awards na siyang dapat may desisyon sa produksyon. Nauunawaan ng ABS-CBN na nangyari ang delay at mga ganitong kompromiso sa mga events tulad ng USTv. Dapat lamang magkaroon ng bigayan at konsiderasyon sa mga ganitong sitwasyon.”