FHM Philippines was recently involved in a controversy after they released a photo of their cover for March 2012, which showed actress Bela Padilla surrounded by black female models. This and the accompanying blurb ("Bela Padilla: Stepping Out of the Shadows") was met with heavy criticism from netizens, who claimed the magazine was promoting racism.
The controversy was picked up by foreign news sites like Telegraph.co.uk and NYDailynews.com. International news agency BBC also interviewed Bela to get her side on the issue.
FHM has since released an apology and replaced the photo. In the new cover, Bela is shown posing against against a rock by the beach. The caption below it reads, "Bela Padilla: 'I want to emerge with my own name.'"
In an e-mail interview with PEP.ph, Bela said she was happy with FHM's new choice for the cover. "I am OK with the new cover," she is quoted as saying. "I just saw it, and I know why FHM chose it; it has as much 'sexiness' as the first one, so I'm happy."
For more on this issue, check this out on FN:
(Photo courtesy of Summit Media)
