Willie Revillame apologized to ABS-CBN and the management accepted his gesture. This was the main point of ABS-CBN’s official statement, which was sent to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) through the network’s Corporate Communications head, Mr. Bong Osorio. According to statement, the meeting between the ABS-CBN management and Willie pushed through yesterday afternoon, May 24. It also stated, “Willie has realized his mistake and apologized to ABS-CBN management for his outburst on air in Wowowee on May 4, 2010, and his failure to report to work since May 5, 2010.”
With regard to the future of Wowowee, Willie and the management would still have to discuss “what will be in the best interest of the viewing public.”
Although the statement did not mention whether Willie would eventally return as host of Wowowee, PEP gathered from an ABS-CBN insider that the TV host’s leave will last for “three months,” and that he will return to the show “around August or September.”
FLASHBACK.
It will be recalled that on the May 4 live episode of Wowowee, Willie threatened to resign from Wowowee if the ABSCBN management failed to kick out radio host and The Buzz segment host Jobert Sucaldito from the network. The TV host claimed that Jobert had been hitting him and his show for a year. On May 12, Willie sent a letter to the top executives of ABS-CBN asking them to “release” him as a talent of the network. The letter was first published in the Philippine Star on May 21 and was posted by PEP on the same day.
Willie has been out of the show since May 5, the day after he threatened to resign. He was temporarily replaced by action superstar Robin Padilla, who began hosting the show last May 8 and will stay until this Saturday, May 29. It has not been determined if Robin will be staying on the show while Willie is out. ABS-CBN STATEMENT. Here is the official statement of ABSCBN on the meeting between the network executives and Willie Revillame:
“ABS-CBN management and Willie Revillame pushed through with their scheduled talk yesterday afternoon.
“Willie has realized his mistake and apologized to ABS-CBN management for his outburst on air in Wowowee on May 4, 2010, and his failure to report to work since May 5, 2010.
“ABS-CBN management has accepted Willie’s apology.
“ABS-CBN and Willie agreed that he takes an indefinite break effective immediately, but his contract obligations with ABSCBN hold. This disallows him to perform similar work for any person or entity in direct competition with ABS-CBN.
“At some point, ABS-CBN management and Willie will discuss what will be in the best interest of the viewing public.
“Meanwhile, Wowowee will continue to provide entertainment and inspiration to Filipinos worldwide.”