I think here's a more objective detail on the war (although the Brian Gorrell phenomena must have died down, I think his blog is already 'laos')
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20080413-130037/Blogger-Brian-ex-lover-DJ-A-case-of-he-saidhe-saidBlogger Brian, ex-lover DJ: A case of he said/he said
By Juliet Labog-Javellana, Bayani San Diego Jr.Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 02:49:00 04/13/2008
MANILA, Philippines—The last time Delfin Justiniano “DJ” Montano saw ex-boyfriend Brian Gorrell was at a Makati police station in October last year, where Montano had filed a complaint of “slight physical injuries and unjust vexation” against Gorrell.
That acrimonious split, he said, led Gorrell to set up the now infamous blog about Montano and his high-society friends dubbed the “Gucci Gang.”
But before things came to a head at the police station, Montano told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, on Friday that “there were certain things which I didn’t like anymore so I told him I didn’t want to be in this relationship anymore.”
On Friday,
Montano visited the Inquirer for an interview, accompanied by his lawyer Jose Oliveros, godfather Benjie Laurel and mother Aurora Montano.
“He started throwing himself into a wild rage. He hit me with his fist. He threw me against the wall. He pushed me so hard, my head hit the leg of a chair and the floor,” he said, recalling the incident in a hotel in Makati.
When he recovered consciousness, Gorrell was looking down at him.
“I knew he wouldn’t let me go,” Montano said, recalling what Gorrell told him: “If you break up with me, I will ruin your family.”
“He made all sorts of threats,” he added.
After the altercation, Gorrell went to the gym and Montano fled from the hotel room and went straight to the Makati Medical Center to have his bruises treated.
Montano also went to the Makati police to report the incident. He later filed a case of slight physical injuries and unjust vexation against Gorrell.
‘Caught lying’
When the police invited Gorrell to the police station, Gorrell accused Montano of taking his passport. But when the police went back to the hotel, they found Gorrell’s passport hidden in a drawer.
“They caught him lying,” Montano said.
Since then, Gorrell has being sending him threats and lewd messages.
In his blog, Gorrell said he would only stop his “smear campaign” when Montano paid the 70,000 Australian dollars he took from Gorrell. (Gorrell claims the alleged debt is in American dollars.)
Montano said Gorrell dragged the name of the former’s high-society friends and stoked rumors, like on the death of Rustan scion Joel Tantoco, to make his blog controversial.
‘Why should I pay?’
“My family and friends have nothing to do with this. He just started bringing in celebrities to attract attention to his blog and he is even making money from it now,” Montano said.
“But it all boils down to this—he wants money from me. He said ‘You pay me and I will stop this.’ But why should I give him money?” Montano said.
He said even if his legal fight costs him more than 70,000 Australian dollars, he would pursue his fight to the end.
Messages from his friends keep him strong. His mother, Aurora Montano, sent him this message: “Anak (Son), we will triumph over this. This will just make you stronger. Justice will prevail. I love you very much.”
‘Love never goes away’
After reading Montano’s denials published in the Inquirer on Saturday, Gorrell said he felt “completely victimized.”
In a phone interview with the Inquirer, he said: “I still feel as if I am being intimidated and threatened by DJ and his family.”
Yet, upon seeing Montano’s picture on the front page of the Inquirer on Saturday, Gorrell said: “My heart sank. I wanted to hug him. Love never goes away even if your lover hurts you. You will never forget the reason why you fell in love in the first place.”
In the middle of the phone interview, Gorrell sounded as if he was crying. “It was very difficult for me ... you must realize that the last time I saw him was in the hotel (where they had a fight in October). The last time I saw him I was still in love. Then, the next time I see him, it’s in the media. That’s a big psychological leap for me.”
Gorrell did not deny that an altercation took place, and that Montano fell after their arguments became slightly physical.
In his radio interview and in his blog, Gorrell said Montano planned the confrontation and that he was “passive-aggressive. He pretends to be meek and soft-spoken, but [he] can be toxic.”
HIV positive
Gorrell, who is HIV positive, acknowledged that he was being emotional “because I’m not prepared [for the media scrutiny]. Prior to this, I lived a simple life in my farm. I’m not used to this.”
Later, Gorrell explained via e-mail: “What I meant was that I wasn’t prepared to see his face. A minute later, however, I wanted to strangle him. So many lies. He has turned my life into a soap opera. I’m hurting so much.”
When Montano finally decided to break his month-long silence with an interview published in the Inquirer Saturday, he denied all of Gorrell’s statements in his blog—he didn’t owe Gorrell money, he never used drugs, he didn’t know the truth about the untimely death of high-society personality Joel Tantoco.
In his phone interview Saturday with the Inquirer, Gorrell pointed out that he was not inclined to start a “war of words” with his former lover in the media.
Point by point
For the Inquirer, however, he consented to answer, point by point, some of Montano’s pronouncements.
Gorrell said that he didn’t live like a king on Boracay, contrary to what Montano had said in the Inquirer interview.
“I spent only $5,000 the entire time I was in Boracay. From the expensive two-bedroom beachfront home DJ had chosen, I moved to a single room with no hot water. The rent was P5,000 a month. I also had a yaya who prepared my food. Her salary was P4,000 a month. I lived simply.”
He also contradicted Montano’s statement that the money he sent was in Australian dollars.
“It was all in American dollars. And why does he care? He claims he owes me nothing,” Gorrell said.
Shy guy
In the Inquirer interview, Montano recalled that Gorrell had approached him and introduced himself when they first met in a Makati hotel in February 2007.
Gorrell denied this account: “He approached me at the pool. I am too shy to approach anyone. I do not approach; I am approached.”
Gorrell reiterated that he had never criticized Filipinos in his blog. “I love Filipinos. I adore Filipinos.”
In the Inquirer interview, Montano categorically denied the allegations of drug use in Gorrell’s blog.
His godfather Laurel told the Inquirer that Montano was willing to take a drug test to prove it.
“I am not a drug user,” said Montano.
The truth
In an e-mail, Gorrell told the Inquirer: “DJ is addicted to cocaine. We discussed treatment for him. I was going to pay for him to go to the United States, to [an] Arizona [rehabilitation center].”
Montano emphatically denied that he knew the “truth” about Tantoco’s death.
“He died of hemorrhagic pancreatitis,” Montano said, adding that Gorrell had never met the deceased.
This was again contradicted by Gorrell. “I met Joel many times. I know everything about him.”
Court case
Montano presented to the Inquirer documents pertaining to the case he had filed against Gorrell for “slight physical injuries and unjust vexation.”
In a resolution dated March 24, it was stated that it was “Gorrell who owed Montano money.”
In a subpoena dated April 1, Gorrell was “ordered” to appear in court, for an arraignment in the sala of Judge Henry E. Laron of the Makati Metropolitan Trial Court.
Gorrell dismissed Montano’s case against him as insignificant. “Fat chance of me ever appearing there!”
He said he would rather that Montano file a case against him in Australia.
Covering his tracks
“Bring it on,” Gorrell said. “I’m not afraid. I don’t have anything to lose because DJ has taken everything from me.”
Gorrell stressed that he was building a case against Montano: “I’m in contact with the fraud department of the Western Union and the Philippines’ tax agency [Bureau of Internal Revenue]. He would have to explain what he did to the money I sent to him through Western Union.”
Gorrell said that he had sent money to Montano, his bank and his sister from March to October last year. “DJ made sure that I’d send it to him through different methods so that it would be difficult to pin him down later. He was covering his tracks from day one.”
Western Union receipts as proof
Gorrell reiterated that he had all the pertinent documents from Western Union to prove his claims.
“I have all nine receipts,” he said. “The money was meant for our [planned] restaurant and travel agency. He said the money was for my immigration papers, working permit and other business documents.”
But when he confronted Montano about the progress of their business ventures, it sparked the altercation that eventually led to the Makati court case.
In turn, the split led Gorrell to set up the blog.
3.6 million hits
“A Filipino friend suggested that I put up a blog,” he recounted.
The blog of this self-confessed “non-techie” has generated 3.6 million hits since its launch on March 4.
On Friday, after Gorrell posted Montano’s interview, he received the most number of hits on a single day: 112,000. His source for the figures is Site Meter, an online tracking tool.
Even Montano and his family never expected that the blog would grow this big.
Montano admitted: “At first, we thought it would die a natural death.”
This was seconded by his lawyer Oliveros: “My advice was: If you answer, it will only add fuel to the fire.”
Out of control
When Montano first got in touch with the Inquirer a month ago, he said he would rather not issue a formal statement until Gorrell filed “a case in the proper forum.”
On Friday, Montano explained that he was breaking his silence because “things have gotten out of control.”
What they thought would blow over after a while has been reported, Montano conceded, “in all forms of media—on TV and radio and in newspapers.”
Blog gives back
Gorrell said that he’s now planning to redirect “all this media attention” to a cause he feels strongly about: An HIV information and awareness campaign.
“We launched it last week. Every week, I will write about it. I want to turn something negative into a positive,” he quipped. “After all, I’m positive myself. It’s an issue I know well.”
He recalled that he received 3,000 e-mails after he posted his plans to pursue this advocacy.
On a personal note, he said he was inspired to take up this cause after encountering prejudice first-hand.
“While I was still in Boracay last year, DJ’s mother called me up to tell me that she would have me deported because of my ailment,” Gorrell recalled. “At that time, I didn’t know if it were true or not. I was trembling after that call.”
In an earlier phone interview, however, Gorrell pointed out that he had learned to ignore the threats from Montano and his family. “If I allow them to affect me, I would only empower their threats.”
He said, he said
Gorrell, however, noted that he still had a lot of bombshells in his online arsenal—particularly about Montano and his “high”-society friends. “I’m not going to give up. My blog will speak for itself. That’s my message to the world.”
A TV news executive described the Gorrell-Montano controversy as a case of “He said ... she said”—a tale of a lovers’ quarrel that has reached various media platforms.
From the blog setup by Gorrell on March 4, the scandal has jumped to the print and broadcast media.
To be accurate, however, it’s a case of “He said ... he said.”
