What started as a lighthearted moment among friends turned into a social media firestorm against Emmanuelle “Emman” Atienza, daughter of TV personality Kim Atienza. The culprit? A jaw-dropping Php 133,000 dinner bill for five. Following the online backlash, the teen clarified that the viral video showcasing the exorbitant dinner bill was merely a “joke” shared among friends. However, the public isn’t as forgiving.

A P133,000 meal

if this doesn’t radicalize you idk what will pic.twitter.com/JAcSpUcgYW

— militant (@alasiye7e) September 23, 2024

In the now-deleted video, Atienza is seen playing a “guess the bill” game with her friends, including reigning Miss World Philippines Krishnah Gravidez. The girls’ guesses quickly climbed into the six figures. Finally, the bill was revealed to be a whopping P133,000. The stark contrast between the lavish meal and the average Filipino’s reality instantly sparked online outrage.

“They’re TOO casual about spending basically two semesters worth of tuition fee in a private institution just for one frickin meal. I could never fathom how rich people live like this,” said one X user.

“The NCR minimum wage earner who works six days a week will have to toil for eight months straight to obtain what they spent in one meal,” said another.

Despite Atienza deleting the video on TikTok, a copy resurfaced on X, quickly amassing a staggering 17.7 million views.

Emman Atienza speaks up

Atienza didn’t take all the bashing sitting down. On Sept. 24, she took to TikTok to address the issue once and for all.

“I find it so stupid that I even have to address this, but it’s gotten to the point where I feel like I need to,” she said. “One, the video was a joke. 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.”

Atienza clarified that it was her friend’s birthday dinner which her agency paid for. But even if the money came from her pockets, Atienza stressed that it would still have been her choice and “freedom to do what we want with the money that we earned.”

Emman Atienza: “I’m open about the fact that I’m a nepo baby.”

She called out a now-deleted post by Republic Asia, which turned her into an example of why everyone should “check their privilege.”

“First of all, I’ve been so honest about the privileges I’ve been given and the privilege that I have in my life. On top of that, I’m also very open about the fact that I’m a nepo baby. I’m not ignorant nor do I deny the privilege that I’ve been given,” she said.

Atienza went on to say that it was hypocritical of people to expect the wealthy to distribute their wealth. She cited a hypothetical situation in which if someone were to win Php 1 million, they wouldn’t immediately give it away to those in need. They would be paying off their bills, buying the things they want, and then “maybe the rest you could possibly donate to charity.”

Emman Atienza name-drops celebrities

Atienza also pointed out how “ironic” it was that the people on social media calling her out for a dinner she didn’t even pay are praising celebrity and personality Nadine Lustre for appearing at a Bvlgari luxury event.

“If you’re going to hate on me for being rich, you need to do the same for everyone,” she said.

“Because guess what, your favorite celebrities, not just in the Philippines but worldwide… make more, have more than I ever have. And on top of that, I doubt that any of them are redistributing their wealth,” continued Atienza.

To drive her point home, Atienza stressed that Pinoys shouldn’t be channeling (or wasting) their hate on a teenage girl like her who isn’t “responsible for the wealth disparity in the Philippines. ”

“I, a singular teenage girl, am not responsible for the wealth disparity in the Philippines, contrary to current popular belief. I find it so stupid that people are picking and choosing what to be activists for. If you actually have an issue with the wealth disparity, if you actually had an issue with impoverished people, there are ways to help that are not attacking a teenage girl,” said Atienza.

But Pinoys are still not having it

emman atienza if sorry ka talaga you will send ₱100k to my bank acct right now https://t.co/vh6bDp8Jid

— ✴️ marts ✴️ (@martspng) September 25, 2024

Despite Atienza’s explanation of justifying the controversial video, many Pinoys still felt she missed the point.

“Her rant was just basically insinuating that she got flack [sic cuz she’s rich. Like girl that’s not the reason,” said an X user.

Another said that it was Atienza and her crowd’s seemingly tone-deaf display of wealth: “It is the gross display that rubbed people the wrong way. It is not because you are rich. It is your obtuse display of opulence, the lack of regard that your audience really comes from a developing country, that even a measly 4k pesos is already expensive for rent.”

“It is a display of a gross lifestyle and seeming indifference to the people’s struggles during a financial crisis, food insecurity, and political upheaval. Funny, also a lot of the names you gave came from humble beginnings. None that I know ever displayed their extravagant restaurant bills for the jokez and the desperate content,” continued the X user.

What do you think about this situation?

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