Emmanuelle Atienza, Krishnah Gravidez speak out on viral 'Guess the Bill' video
Emmanuelle Atienza, the youngest daughter of TV host Kim Atienza, and Miss World Philippines 2024 Krishnah Gravidez broke their silence after their viral "Guess the Bill" video drew flak on social media.
In case you missed it, Emman shared a TikTok of a girls' night where she and Krishnah attended a birthday dinner with a bunch of friends. In the now-deleted video, their group was dining at Yamazato, which serves Japanese haute cuisine. They challenged themselves to guess the total cost of their meal before placing their order, with the agreement "whoever guesses the bill right wins and has to pay the bill."
Their guesses ranged from P100,000 to P150,000, with the Miss World Philippines 2024 titleholder guessing P130,000. As the one closest to the bill, which supposedly reached P133,423.99, Krishnah was shown taking out her wallet and card to pay.
Social media users react
The video has since made the rounds online, receiving criticism and sparking discussion about "privilege" and showing a casual display of extravagance.
"Saw a dumb comment [saying,] 'Wait these girls are Filipinos?' Like[?] Anyways, that's not the issue here[.] The girlies being 'burgis' and flexing," one X user commented.
"If this doesn't radicalize you, [I don't know] what will," another user said.
Meanwhile, others noted that the "Guess the Bill" challenge has already been a trend online—hence, nothing was wrong with it.
"If anyone has the time can someone please educate me why this is (idk if this is the right term) offensive? Or like a problem? Guess the Bill challenges kasi have been a thing na so I just wanna know why [these] girls [are] being mobbed? I genuinely wanna be educated," an X user wrote.
'It was a joke, we didn't pay that'
On TikTok, Emman clarified that the challenge was a "joke" and that they didn't pay for that "outrageously high number."
"I found it so stupid that I even have to address this but it [has] gotten to the point where I feel like I need to," she began while enumerating various reasons on why they really played the online challenge.
"I thought it was obvious because we were laughing and the bill was an outrageously high number, but apparently, it's believable that I can pay that much for a dinner. So I wanna clarify again it was a joke, we didn't pay that, it was my friend's birthday and her agency treated us to a dinner," she said.
The 18-year-old fashion model also reiterated that even if they have that much money, it is their "choice" and "freedom" to do what they want with it.
@emmanatienza #stitch with @emmanuelle atienza ♬ Girls - The Dare
Emman went on to say that, as a teenage girl, she is not "responsible for the wealth disparity" in the country.
"I find it so stupid that people are picking and choosing what to be activists for. If you actually have the issue on wealth disparity, if you actually had an issue with impoverished people, there are ways to help that are not attacking a teenage girl."
She concluded, "Advocate for those in need or you can also volunteer. Volunteering is free, I've done it. Talk to your local government do something about it because this does nothing for the advocacy that you're trying to be an activist for, it does nothing to the economy, it does nothing to our country, all it does is attack a random person and bring hate to the table."
Meanwhile, Krishnah took to her Instagram broadcast channel to air her side of the story, echoing Emman's earlier statement that she didn't pay for anything and that she couldn't pay for a dinner bill like that.
"I don't even celebrate my own birthday to save money. Yes, laki po ako sa hirap and hindi din ako mayaman as of the moment. Hindi ko po yun ikinaila ever," she said.
The beauty queen added that she'll be more careful with involving herself in such videos and apologized to her fans.
"I should have been more sensitive of what's happening around us," she said. "I feel bad that this issue blew up and I might have disappointed some of you. I'm really sorry po."