Life revealing its raw beauty

What’s all the brouhaha involving actor John Lloyd Cruz? So the guy got drunk. So what? So the whole thing was captured on camera. Again, so what?

And yet, many people, who don’t even know him personally, thought it was a big deal.

What? John Lloyd slurring? John Lloyd calling his rumored girlfriend Ellen Adarna “Baby”? Or John Lloyd squatting on the floor?

Come on. He was in Bantayan Island with a beautiful girl and some non-showbiz friends. They shared a few drinks. Nothing controversial about that. That he would display symptoms of having had too much was almost inevitable.

But they said the 34-year-old actor was not his usual self.

Uhmm, excuse me. How would they know? Their exposure to him was only through the characters he portrayed on the big screen or on the boob tube. Heck, for all we know, the guy’s a lush in real life. Not that it’s any of our business.

Or maybe it is? Why else would Star Magic big boss Johnny Manahan come to his defense? Apparently, the uploaded photos and videos of John Lloyd’s beach antics that went viral needed to be justified by the head of ABS-CBN’s talent arm.

In a statement he released last Monday night, Manahan said the guy was just “letting off some steam” from his hectic showbiz schedule.

“John Lloyd Cruz works hard as an actor… 18hour days at a stretch… In this age of an all-pervasive social media, what is okay and innocent in private becomes worthlessly controversial in public,” his statement read. Well, there you go. But wait. The story didn’t end there. John Lloyd himself apologized on Instagram.

“Diz iz me lerning. Very humbling but I do apologize to the little boys & girls. No regrets babies just life revealing its raw beauty (sic),” he posted.

Wow! Not only can the guy not hold his drink, he can’t also spell. But never mind that. It seems that he’s also a walking contradiction.

I mean, how else do you describe someone who says sorry and then takes it back by saying that he doesn’t regret what happened? All under one breath.

I have to give it to John Lloyd, though. That bit about the whole episode being “just life revealing its raw beauty” was a clincher.

(Psst. To all the sots out there. The next time you find yourself hunched over a corner, trying to do a realistic impression of Linda Blair, it’s “just life revealing its raw beauty.” As to the millennials who don’t know who Miss Blair is, google her.)

Anyway, to those who took this issue to heart, they can rest assured that John Lloyd will be more careful in the future because he has learned his lesson. After all, we are talking about millions in endorsements that he stands to lose if he insists on revealing life’s raw beauty.

But if all the rumors about his fondness for the bottle are true, then he might as well say goodbye to his cash cow. No more John Lloyd inviting you to try out a new pizza flavor, or John Lloyd tempting you to try a popular snack, or John Lloyd telling you take this medicine to get rid of a headache.

But hey, there might be a John Lloyd giving a toast and flashing his picture-perfect smile with an “Eto ang tama” quip.