Gucci Gang controversy

The Gucci Gang controversy is a series of events that involved an Australian blogger Brian Gorrell who published his accusation against his former boyfriend—identified as DJ Montano—of swindling him of money totaling 70,000. Gorrell's blog, which was first published on 4 March 2008, has also accused Montano's well-to-do friends, whom he tagged as "Gucci Gang", of attempting to cover up the deed and striking back at him. The blog has since become a major gossip topic in Philippines' capital city Manila, exposing its high-society youths' alleged freeloading lifestyle and addiction to cocaine. It has also tested Philippine and Australian online libel laws, and raised questions about the extent of freedom of speech in blogging.
Gorrell's blog published
After he was forced to flee the Philippines to Australia, Gorrell (a landscape designer) published his blog on 4 March 2008, using Blogger.com. He claimed that he had been sending money to Montano as a "silent investment" for a restaurant called Bonza in Makati City as well as a tour booking company in Boracay. He soon realized that the money was used to pay Montano's own debt and that the companies were non-existent. Gorrell then narrated that he confronted Montano about the money at a hotel room in Makati, which resulted in a public altercation. He said he was charged with assault through the help of the Montano's friends, but was later dismissed. Among those mentioned in the blog include lifestyle columnist and socialite Celine Lopez, who is described as the "Paris Hilton of Asia". Montano and his family are exploring possible legal actions against Gorrell. Gorrell said in an interview that he was not inclined to do so as of the moment, stating that he has consulted three lawyers in Manila and all of them declined to take the case, citing conflict of interest. He also stated that he does not consider taking the case to the Philippines, saying that "the thought of spending years within the Philippine court system is not even an option for (him)". Both lawyers of Montano and Lopez demanded that the blog be shut down, but no other legal actions has been done. Montano's representative claimed that Gorrell does not have a legal case because the blogger has yet to sue Montano, while Lopez's lawyer could not file a lawsuit against Gorrell because he is in another country. He added that the blog "became bigger than (him)". Gorrell also greeted the Gucci Gang to have fun at their "anti-Brian blog" party that same night.
Gossip and discussion topic
The blog and the people mentioned in it have become a major topic of gossip in Manila, and has also gotten people in local showbiz industry hooked. The local entertainment media first got hold of the blog on 11 March 2008, when Philippine Daily Inquirer published an article about it. The newspaper wrote that the blog (unnamed at that time, but provided keywords for googling) "made Gossip Girl looked like a Disney musical". Talks reaching at its peak when the blog abruptly closed. It was also talked about during the final-episode taping of MariMar Philippine remake. Suggestions of a movie version was raised from comments in the blog, with the likes of character actress Bella Flores, small-sized celebrity Mahal, and entertainment columnist Jobert Sucaldito included in the cast, while TV host and comedian Ogie Diaz would portray the Montano's role.
Legal and social issues
The blog raised questions about the extent of Philippine and Australian libel laws, with jurisdiction being the key issue. In the Philippines, a person may be accused of libel in any place reached by the publication where the alleged libel appeared. However, such law suffers from loopholes if the publication in question appears wherever Internet access is available. Laws of both countries differ on what statement can be defined as libelous. While Australian libel laws give greater weight to the veracity of the statements, its counterpart in the Philippines defines anything written with "malice afterthought" as libelous. This means that a simple mention of a name in a "malicious" article, no matter how true it is, can be cited for libel in the Philippines.
Some experts on media and journalism, meanwhile, contend that Gorrell's blog was not fit to print in the news pages of newspapers and that it had raised issues in lifestyle journalism in the Philippines. Some media professionals think that the mainstream press, nevertheless, handled the story appropriately.
Randy Dellosa, resident psychologist of the Pinoy Big Brother series, weighed in on the Philippine entertainment industry's fascination with Gorrell's blog. According to Dellosa, the local show biz people are experiencing "scandal fatigue" within their own industry and that they "secretly aspire to become part of high society." Meanwhile, lifestyle columnist Malu Fernandez, herself a victim of a blog attack in 2007, questioned the extent of freedom of speech applied in blogging, stating the blog about the Gucci Gang as an example. She wrote that journalists like her do not hide behind an anonymous blog name, while lambasting those who "place vicious comments and slanderous statements in blogs yet sign their names as 'anonymous'", calling the act as "plain cowardice". Austero wrote in his column at Manila Standard Today that "the latest scandal validates the emerging power of blogging as medium of our times and consequently and necessarily opens, once again, discussion on the ethics of blogging". He also added that the Filipinos' "collective tolerance for dirt and sleaze has breached new levels".
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