Justin Soriano defends Pia Wurtzbach on allegations of stolen contacts
Makeup artist Justin Soriano defended Pia Wurtzbach against allegations that the latter “stole contacts” to introduce herself into the fashion world.
The makeup artist, who was formerly part of Heart Evangelista’s glam team, set the record straight about the stolen contacts issue by responding to an Instagram user who accused Pia of “cheating.”
In his reply, Justin stressed that the Miss Universe 2015 winner had never stolen any contact.
“Pia never ever stole any contacts or whatever. Especially us, her glam team. We are only [her] glam team and we are not acquainted nor close to any PR officers (of fashion brands),” he wrote in his comment on Oct. 12.
He also stressed that the beauty queen has been present in fashion shows way back in 2015, adding that the issue, which he said has been going on for more than a year, was “invented” just to draw hate towards Pia.
“Also Pia is Pia! She has walked the runway in New York when she was Miss Universe. She already attended a lot of fashion shows in New York way back [in] 2015. That cheating thing is actually invented so people can draw hate towards Pia,” he said.
“It’s a good thing that when brands hear or read these, all the more that they show love to Pia. The universe is really so powerful. [You] throw hate? The hate goes back to you,” he said, adding that Pia is friends with The Business of Fashion founder and CEO Imran Amed and Natalia Vodianova, model, and wife of Dior executive Antoine Arnault.
“So why steal contacts when she is well-connected naman,” Justin stressed.
On the other hand, other social media users pointed out Pia’s husband, Jeremy Jauncey’s past statements about the beauty queen not having any "network" or "opportunities," which seemed to contradict Justin's statements.
In his response, Justin said in the comments section of his post: “Jeremy knows them already. In fact he is friends with them. He didn’t know that one day these people can actually help Pia. Imagine that! Everything unfolded because they wanna help.”
Justin argued that just because Jeremy captioned the photo that way doesn't necessarily mean they lack connections in the fashion industry. He pointed out that Beautiful Destinations has over 25 million followers and that Pia has connections with people like Natalia Vodianova through charitable work and Imran through the Business of Fashion.
Justin also stated that neither Pia nor Jeremy are the type of people to take advantage of others.
"But Pi and Jeremy [are] not the type to ‘use’ people to ‘take advantage.’ They’re not the type to ask favors. If they can do it on their own. They will..,” he added.
Justin made headlines in 2023 after he and stylist Jeck Aguilar were rumored to have a fallout with Heart. He has since directly denied it as the cause of their falling out.
"The falling-out has nothing to do with money matters. Please, let’s stop making issues," he stressed. "We are over it already. Patahimikin na po natin ito." The two have since been working for Pia.
Pia recently made history as the first Pinay to walk the runway of the L’Oréal Paris fashion show in this year’s PFW.
The beauty queen-model graced the "Le Défilé Walk Your Worth" show on Tuesday, Sept. 24 (Philippine time) at the Opéra de Paris in France which aims to highlight the message of self-love, sisterhood, and beauty through captivating runway presentations.
Headlining the affair were American model Kendall Jenner, Indian actress and model Aishwarya Rai, British model Cara Delevingne, veteran actress Jane Fonda, singer Camila Cabello, and more.
Apart from the L’Oréal Paris runway, Pia also walked the runway for Michael Cinco’s show, looking stunning in a shimmery black mermaid gown with butterfly sleeves.
