Last night, photographer Sam Morales started trending on Twitter after user Jzan Tero (@JzanVern) posted a thread on how she was allegedly catfished by the former.
I got catfished: a (really long) thread pic.twitter.com/5BQ2G5kcif
— Jzan Tero (@JzanVern) March 30, 2020
Narrating her experience, Tero claims that Morales tricked her into believing that she was meeting her tinder match Bill Iver Reyes, who introduced himself as an art director and a part-time model.
Initially getting a hunch that Reyes was fake, Tero was then contacted by Morales to cover up her lies. Morales made Tero believe that she was the cousin of Reyes and was simply relaying some messages from her “cousin.” She even got someone to pose as the said “Bill Iver Reyes,” who would show up to dates with Tero.
There were even instances of “Bill Iver Reyes” (who was later revealed as Bilko Argana) gaslighting Tero (among other things, calling her a cheater because she had the Tinder app installed in her phone—understandable as that was after the first time Tero caught wind of Argana’s lies), manipulation (making up tragic stories and appealing to Tero’s pity) and leaving her in extremely vulnerable positions (fully knowing she had no idea where to go, Argana abandoned her in a fast food restaurant during her first night in Manila).
Another Twitter user, Josh Dela Rosa (@illuminaticurls), came forward with a story about how she was also allegedly catfished by Morales.
I am standing up not just for myself but for all those trans who have been victimized by this disgusting act ; I am a Victim of Catfishing by Sam Morales and i chose to stand up and help stop this!
— Josh Dela Rosa (@illuminaticurls) March 30, 2020
Claiming to be friends with Morales prior to the incident, Dela Rosa started the thread by pointing out how Morales has been targeting mostly trans women. Looking at the thread, the narrative is similar to Tero’s—with Morales supposedly creating a fake profile on Tinder to bait her victims.
Going back to Tero’s thread, she revealed the reason behind Morales’ action, with Morales allegedly admitting that the catfishing was homophobic and transphobic in nature since she would specifically only target gay men and trans women. Morales confessed to Tero that it stemmed from her childhood experience of having been bullied by gay people, though at least one person from her past (as of now still unverified) has already called that into question.
It started when she was young She was bullied by gay people all the time. Thats where her hatred towards the gays started. Later on her homophobic uncle found out about the bullying and wanted to revenge for her so nilandi niya yung bakla. He made the gay fall in love with him
— Jzan Tero (@JzanVern) March 30, 2020
He did it for a while until nagsawa siya, and asked Sam to continue it. In her words “It became an addiction” They would target gay/trans people, make them fall in love and then ghost them. That’s how it started with me. When they found out i was trans.
— Jzan Tero (@JzanVern) March 30, 2020
Both Tero and Dela Rosa have faced so much trauma over what Morales has done.
Some notable personalities have since aired their frustrations on Twitter. Here’s what they had to say:
Hello po sa mga kaibigan natin sa fashion industry. Hindi niyo deserve ang isang Sam Morales. You are all working hard tapos babahiran lang ng kadumihan ng isang babaeng ito. DON’T HIRE SAM MORALES!!! LET HER SUFFER!!!! JZAN DESERVE BETTER!!! LET’S PROTECT OUR TRANS FAMILY!!! https://t.co/n6rm1IOkLj
— mimiyuuuh 🦖 (@mimiyuuuh) March 30, 2020
Habang wala pa silang statement, eto muna: THAT "level" of abuse manipulation towards our trans sisters (OR ANYONE) is unacceptable. If you really did THAT and you work in this industry, well, say goodbye to your career. There's no room for bigots here.
— BJ Pascual 🏳️🌈 (@bjpascual) March 30, 2020
Hustisya para sa Pilipinas at kay Jzan
— JANINE ✨ (@janinegutierrez) March 30, 2020
More people who were allegedly victimized by Morales are now coming out with their story about how they were catfished. I’m hoping these stories of catfishing would encourage more people to help them seek justice by spreading the word.
Catfishing is already bad since it involves deceiving others, but using it as a means to be transphobic and homophobic is taking it to an entirely different level.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
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