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Mike de Leon blasts 'celebrity' Atom Araullo's 'narcissism'

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MANILA- Filmmaker Mike de Leon on Wednesday did not mince words in criticizing Atom Araullo&#x27;s work as a journalist and an actor.In a lengthy Facebook post, De Leon hit back at Araullo after the latter called him a &quot;deeply troubled person,&quot; saying the &quot;Citizen Jake&quot; actor has his own demons as well.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/05/30/18/atom-araullo-addresses-mike-de-leons-hurtful-remarks">Atom Araullo addresses Mike de Leon&#x27;s &#x27;hurtful&#x27; remarks</a></li></ul>&quot;Many of the things you said are true - that I am a deeply troubled person, I accept that. I come from a crazy rich family anyway,&quot; De Leon said.<div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/CitizenJakeFilm/posts/438817223208163" data-width="auto"> </div>De Leon criticized Araullo&#x27;s supposed lack of empathy after the 35-year-old allegedly &quot;ignored&quot; the veteran filmmaker&#x27;s direction during one of the shootings for their film.&quot;I told you that never in my career as a director has any actor disrespected me as much as you did. Then I told you that if you wanted to direct yourself, then, by all means, do it,&quot; he said.&quot;You can overact all you want. I will just shoot whatever you wish to do and direct the other actors in the scene. Then you went into a meandering explanation about why you did it without really saying anything, not even apologizing,&quot; he added.In an earlier Facebook post, Araullo wrote that De Leon &quot;had no basis to determine whether I could act or not, much less carry an entire film (with what would turn out to be a challenging role).&quot; &quot;Mike was adamant that he wanted a journalist and non-actor to play the character because of his unique vision for Citizen Jake. I believed in the director, and like others who admire his work, I wanted to see him make another film after some 17 years of retirement at the time. So, I said yes,&quot; Araullo wrote.&quot;But while he has certainly tested the limits of my endurance, I can rest easy knowing that I worked hard, behaved professionally, and did all to the best of my abilities at the time the film was made,&quot; he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/05/25/18/citizen-jake-filmmaker-on-atom-araullo-he-disappointed-me-as-a-person">&#x27;Citizen Jake&#x27; filmmaker on Atom Araullo: He disappointed me as a person</a></li></ul>But the filmmaker was not content with Araullo&#x27;s statement, and went on to question how Araullo worked as a journalist, noting that &quot;nobody is more important to Atom Araullo than Atom Araullo.&quot;&quot;I also told you in one my earlier &#x27;tirades&#x27; that I find that you have no empathy, so how can you be a journalist if you lack this basic ability to understand people&#x27;s problems (not mine). Isn&#x27;t journalism about the story, not the journalist?&quot; De Leon said.Araullo earlier wrote that De Leon deliberately made hurtful remarks about his work as a journalist, which had nothing to do with the movie.&quot;All I can say is that I have never made any claims about the quality of my output or my stature in the media industry. To do so would be futile and obscene. I just aim to do my best like everyone else, always acknowledging that one continues to learn and improve everyday. I’ll leave it to the public to appraise the value of my work, accumulated over a decade of being a journalist,&quot; Araullo said.<div>&#x27;HOW HYPOCRITICAL&#x27;</div>De Leon also criticized Araullo&#x27;s rejection of being called a &quot;celebrity&quot; saying it was &quot;hypocritical&quot; of him when he really stars in commercials.&quot;And you say you cringe at being called a celebrity, a star. How hypocritical. Don&#x27;t bother to cringe anymore because you revel in it,&quot; De Leon said.&quot;So accept that you are a celebrity and don&#x27;t use the noble profession of journalism to hide your inadequacies as a human being,&quot; he added.De Leon also alleged that Araullo has no &quot;real accomplishments&quot; and went on the criticize his lead star&#x27;s previous works and acting in &quot;Citizen Jake.&quot;&quot;You know how your performance in Citizen Jake was enhanced and &#x27;fixed&#x27; in the editing,&quot; he told Araullo.&quot;You won&#x27;t want me to upload your most horribly acted scenes, and the one that had my team rolling in laughter every time they saw it. I tried to keep that scene by modifying the editing flow but I was overruled by my team who told me in no uncertain terms that that scene had to go,&quot; he added.Like Araullo, De Leon said he also had to endure a lot during the filmmaking process.&quot;I had to endure your superciliousness, your overweening ego, your disparaging remarks about movie people and actors, even your lack of manners,&quot; he told Araullo.&quot;I had to remind you to at least say thank you to the staff and crew before you left Baguio. Is that what you learned from your parents? Or did they fill your head with hot air as you were growing up, telling you were the best in everything you did?&quot; he added.Lastly, De Leon lamented how working with the 35-year-old felt like &quot;dealing with the entire Araullo clan and needed their approval for everything that happened to their son in this film.&quot;&quot;Stop pretending to want to embrace the universe, when all the time, you only want to embrace yourself. This is called narcissism,&quot; he said.Despite their differences, Araullo said he is still grateful for the opportunity to work with De Leon. &quot;I am still grateful for the opportunity to have worked on this film, now that I close this chapter of my life,&quot; he said.

Filmmaker Mike de Leon on Wednesday did not mince words in criticizing Atom Araullo's work as a journalist and an actor.

Filmmaker Mike de Leon on Wednesday did not mince words in criticizing Atom Araullo's work as a journalist and an actor.