Naniniwala umano si "Eat Bulaga" host-comedian Joey De Leon na "powerful celebrity" si Ultimate Multimedia Star Toni Gonzaga-Soriano, na nakasama niya sa reunion movie nilang "My Teacher" na isa sa mga lahok na pelikula ng 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

Sinabi ni Joey na para sa kaniya, powerful si Toni dahil hindi ito nagpatinag sa "cancel culture" at bashing na natanggap niya, simula nang magpahayag siya ng pagsuporta sa kandidatura ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., at sa katunayan ay naging host pa siya mismo ng proclamation rallies at sorties nito.

“Mali naman kasi mga bashers nyo, eh… ang sinasabi ni Paul doon sa kabuuan, sabi niya equally powerful yung mga tumitira rito kay Toni."

“Eh, hindi naman ito nagre-react, hindi natitinag, so, powerful ito. Mas powerful kasi hindi niya pinapansin, eh," ani Joey, sa media conference ng kanilang pelikula sa Manila Hotel noong Lunes, Disyembre 5.

Ang nabanggit na pelikula ay sa direksiyon ni Paul Soriano na kabiyak ni Toni.

Matatandaang sinabi ni Paul na para sa kaniya, si Toni ang "most powerful celebrity" ngayon. Ito raw ang natutuhan ni Paul sa kaniyang better half.

"You know, honestly, outside looking in, if I can take a step back and just, you know, from a perspective of not being her husband, or her producer or her director, and just outside looking in, I really believe Toni is probably the most powerful celebrity today."

"Only because the criticisms and the hate that she’s getting are from equally powerful people too."

"You don’t rattle relevant people if you’re not doing something better than them, di ba?"

"And you know, of course, you know, I’m her husband, and I’m very extremely proud of her. She’s also one of the strongest people I know, right."

"I’ve seen her in her darkest moments. I’ve seen her being very vulnerable but she chooses to get up every day and face that camera. She could have easily just moved out, taken all the criticisms and just, you know, go somewhere else. But what did she choose? She chose to create her own show. She chose to make a concert. She chose to make a film. She’s facing it head on."

“If that’s not powerful, I don’t know what is, right? Ahhm, you know I always tell her, ‘You are at the right place at this right time.’

Because if you also study the path of her career, she’s also been one of the most heavily criticized, if you go back to her transfer, her network transfer and all that stuff… she’s been on very high profile shows,| paliwanag ng direktor.

“So I really believe she’s one of the strongest and most powerful women in the Philippines today. And she’s not stopping. So that’s quite remarkable."