Billy Crawford, Coleen Garcia apologize for Ethiopia-prenup pics

Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia on Sunday apologized for a series of prenuptial photos that were shot in various locations in Ethiopia, with some critics calling the pictures racist.

In a statement, the couple apologized for how the photos translated online, and clarified that the photos were taken out of context as they were part of a tourism shoot sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines.

"Completely, it might not even be about the photos per se, but more on how it comes across and what it could represent. Being public figures, dito kami nagkulang and we admit we could have done better," the statement read.

Social media was abuzz earlier on Sunday, with netizens having mixed reactions to the photos — some were indeed positive, but others were left with a bad taste in the mouth.

Ethiopia was also one of the top trending topics on social media site Twitter throughout the day.

Crawford and Garcia explained that they were invited by Ethiopian Airlines to a photo shoot that would be part of a tourism campaign.

"We were invited and sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines to do our shoot there for their tourism and capture their natural environment because we were told that tourism helps their economy," the couple said.

They also revealed that, while they were the only ones who were supposed to be featured in the pictures, the children were included in some of the shots as they wanted to be part of the photos.

"'Yung shot with the kids, actually patapos na kaming mag shoot noon na kaming dalawa lang and we just needed to get a few shots in, but naaliw 'yung kids (who were already there) and they really wanted to be a part of the photos so they kept coming into the frame hanggang sa sinama na nina Oly," they said.

"In fact, may dumating pa na local who was scolding them and shooing them away kasi abala daw sa shoot, but we felt differently and natuwa din naman kami sa mga bata kaya we told the man na it's okay, and we let them be a part of the photo despite it not being part of the plan, and we even showed the photos to them after," they added.

Nevertheless, the couple apologized for the way the photos translated online, and addressed the accusations of racism that followed.

"It's sad that the tendency is to jump to conclusions, but we understand din kasi nga they were not there to witness everything," they said.

"Kaya we do apologize for how it might have translated, and we're sorry again to those we have offended," they added.

The couple also clarified that the photos were not their official prenuptial photos, as a more "personal" shoot would take place in the Philippines at a later date. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News