A Filipino who’s part of Lee Min-ho’s much awaited drama, “The King: Eternal Monarch” (TKEM), makes for an interesting story. That he’s not a mere assistant but the main stylist makes it even more scintillating.
Except that it’s really just that—a made-up story. It’s a nice fantasy that we hope someone can achieve someday. But it hasn’t happened yet.
This is the story of a certain Jack Cruz and his fantastical claims of working with some of the hottest Korean stars to date.
Handpicked to style
“Just in time for my birthday! Our teaser for the ‘The King’ is finally out! I feel so happy at the same time very nervous because this is totally different from the styling I did in ‘Arthdal Chronicles’ (like an absolute 180 degrees),” Cruz posted on his Instagram account (@jckcrvz) on March 11.
The account is private but has over 28,000 followers. Cruz accepted the follow request Super K sent, but we were eventually deleted. He has the same account name for his public Twitter which has a following of 2,188.
“Honestly, I thought of having a break after my first TV project cause I felt that ‘twas not for me. It’s physically and mentally exhausting (don’t get me started with fans) but knowing that I will be working with an amazing cast and crew like that, count me in,” he continued on the post.
He claimed that the person who offered him the position to be the stylist for the show is none other than script writer Kim Eun-suk. Cruz said that Kim “opened his eyes to K-drama” through her works in dramas such as “Lovers in Paris,” “Descendants of the Sun” and “Goblin.”
He then proceeded by thanking Kim and the show director Baek Sang-hoon. His pinned post on Twitter was written March 26 and had the official poster of TKEM. He referred to the photos as “our posters.”
Jet-setter
Cruz hinted at working on the series as early as Dec. 14, 2019.
A Twitter post on Jan. 13 read that he was supposed to start packing for a trip to Paris but he had a 3 a.m. call time for “The King.”
His posts were picked up by local entertainment website Chingu to the World (CTTW). He granted them an interview. The exclusive story, which came out on April 13, called him “main stylist” for TKEM.
Media outfits came out with their own stories based on CTTW’s interview with Cruz the next day. It gave his story the validation it needed. The original article had 468,740 page views, a media outfit’s piece reached more than 20,000 shares. Most of the online stories have now been taken down.
In the CTTW interview, Cruz had the most amazing stories.
Kind, kind stars
He was quoted as saying that Song Joong-ki gave him an insect repellent when the actor saw that he was feeling itchy. Song sent him and his team one every week since then, according to him.
This happened while he was supposedly working as the stylist for the series “Arthdal Chronicles”. In his IG post dated Sept. 7, 2019, he stated that the “Arthdal” director Kim Won-seok personally asked him to be part of his team. He would say that he wondered why he was chosen when he had no previous background in styling for a television series.
“Arthdal Chronicles” was one of the most highly budgeted K-dramas to date.
He also shared with CTTW an anecdote about TKEM’s leading man.
“One night after filming, Lee Min-ho offered to drop me off at my place. While on our way I was very vocal to him that I am quite nervous on how his fans will take all the looks that I created for him,” he said to CTTW. He continued that Min-ho responded by telling him that “I trust you and you are good with what you do.”
It was not indicated whether they spoke in Korean, English or if they had a translator between them. Cruz has never posted any Hangeul text in any of his social media accounts. The only Korean phrase he has written during course of time he was supposedly working on these dramas was a “gamsahamnida” meaning thank you.
Netflix denies ties
Super K asked Netflix if they could confirm Cruz’s participation in the series. They denied that he ever worked in that capacity for the drama.
“We have checked with the TKEM production. They confirmed that there is no foreigner/non-Korean person working on the show in the stylist capacity described in these stories,” said Netflix.
Jack who?
But who is Jack Cruz?
His name didn’t ring any bells for Inquirer’s fashion editor. His profile on Instagram said that he came from Davao. But a quick query to Davao’s Lifestyle circle had sources denying knowing him. On Twitter, he describes himself as a “sweet talking, sugar-coated candyman.”
We found a profile in Linkedin with the name of Jack Yvan Cruz. It tells us two things: that he’s a fashion Stylist at L’Officiel in Thailand and that he has a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory science/medical technology from San Pedro College, Davao. His profile said he attended the school from 2008-2010 but according to the San Pedro College website, their Medical Laboratory Science course is a four-year course.
No connection to L’Officiel
The CTTW article said that he worked as a fashion stylist for 10 years. Cruz loves to talk about the number of times he worked with L’Officiel. The same article mentioned that he worked with the magazine for a cover of EXO Chanyeol in 2017.
Super K acquired a copy of the magazine. His name was not included in the staff box.
Nor was it mentioned on the page where you can find the story of Chanyeol. The styling was credited to Choi A-rum, while the the set styling to Park Min-jeong.
A black and white cover of Song Joong-ki for L’Officiel Hommes Thailand is included In his Top 9 on Instagram. Super K was told that the shoot for Song was a closed set and no one saw him there. The post came with claims that he worked on five (magazine) covers, four campaigns and one Korean drama for 2019.
Official statement
L’Officiel Thailand released an official statement the night of April 15. It was signed by its editor-in-chief Sethapong Pawwattana.
The statement reads:
“On behalf of L’Officiel Thailand and L’Officiel Hommes Thailand, I, the editor-in-chief of both magazines, would like to clarify that Jack Yvan Cruz (IG: @jckcrvz) or any other names he used has never been working with us since we established ’Officiel Thailand and L’Officiel Hommes Thailand under Digitaria Co., Ltd. Any claims he announced to be working with us is a fraud. None of our staffs has ever been in contact with him. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for any damages done by him, should there be any.”
Super K has also reached out to Elle Korea to inquire if his claims of working with them is true. We still await their reply. Cruz said that he worked with Blackpink Jisoo for the December 2019 issue of the magazine.
He tweeted an Instagram story on Feb 2 saying that he did not replace the stylist for Elle Korea but he was responsible for Jisoo’s clothes for the shoot. In the same post he explained why he’s not sharing any photos from “The King: Eternal Monarch.”
“We signed a contract before filming that we can’t share photos about the series unless it’s for PR or other things,” he said.
No cross posting
He also warned his Twitter followers on April 8 of crossposting his Tweets on Instagram. This pertains to questions as to where Jisoo is and what she is currently doing.
“Her management is strict and people might stir some drama again. We don’t want this to be cancelled,” he explained.
Curiously, he doesn’t like to do selfies. We only saw two photos of him in his IG before our access was removed.
He has never posted any landmarks of South Korea with him in it during the time he was supposedly working there. There are no photos of him with the stars, at all. Some “proof” that he ever went there was a photo of an empty runway with flower-printed carpet. He tagged the location as Myeongdong and tagged Elle Korea in his caption.
In contrast, his Twitter account is more humble and subdued.
In IG, he would post his meal in a posh restaurant in Makati. On Twitter, he would post extreme close-up of food like pizza and binignit, a dessert soup made of glutinous rice.
The Cruz on IG led a life beyond our reach. On Twitter, he would go to the market because it relaxes him. But he also complains about the prices of fish, just like the rest of us.
UPDATE: Super K reached out to Cruz on his Instagram. We asked for his reaction on the fact that Netflix denied the presence of a Filipino stylist on “The King: Eternal Monarch” and that L’Officiel Thailand said he has never worked with him. This is his answer:
“Hi, I am very sorry but there was a problem internally and I was reprimanded this NN (afternoon) as to why I was entertaining interviews without their consent/approval. All the articles that were published were taken down by the management. Got removed from the team and suspended indefinitely.
Further articles about being me in it might affect the new projects that I am doing including the new series and the movie might be affected. Sorry for that.”
The messages sent was also removed immediately.
Follow Super K for updates.
READ: The Sam Morales Scandal: A Summary
The post The many lies of Jack Cruz: The man who claimed to be the stylist of Lee Min-ho’s upcoming K-drama appeared first on Inquirer Super.
Source: PDI
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