Cristy Fermin is the Final Boss of Celebrity Gossip

The veteran showbiz reporter Cristy Fermin has died four deaths. But not from the libel cases lodged against her by celebrities she’s criticized. She’s never even gotten death threats. Since starting out as an entertainment writer in the 1970s, ditching college to write about the likes of Tirso Cruz III and Vilma Santos, the feisty gossip columnist has ruffled some feathers, made enemies out of show business’ big names, got swindled by a trusted aide, figured in a million-peso libel case, and even got kicked out of a major television station. But none of these killed her.

“Apat na beses na akong pinatay,” she tells me one afternoon at her home, surrounded by some two thousand paintings, three of her 22 dogs, and a fog of Philip Morris 100s, her choice of cigarette stored in a tin canister to keep them crisp.

According to unverified online sources, she’s died four times. “May kandila pa. Ang mali lang [ay ang] birthday [ko].” Why people would want her dead is not lost on “Nanay Cristy,” as most people in the industry fondly call her. “Kasi ang mga artista, maninipis, mga balat sibuyas. Ayaw na ayaw nila na sila ay itinatama at sila ay pinapansin. [At] ang mga fans? The moment you hit their idol, mumurahin ka na gaya ng mga bashers,” she says in her gravelly voice that most Filipinos know too well. After all, Cristy Fermin is synonymous with celebrity gossip — is celebrity gossip. Even the middle-aged heterosexual male Grab driver beamed upon hearing where we’re headed. “Dito pala nakatira si Cristy Fermin,” he says after not having spoken to us during most of the ride.

She started writing a column in the weekly entertainment magazine Modern Romances and True Confession, where fans sent questions like “Ano po ang address ni Vilma Santos?” or “Kailan po ang birthday ni Nora Aunor?” (She’s a self-confessed Noranian herself). But as a newcomer eager to write opinionated stories, she wanted more. Thus began her stint at movie entertainment magazine Jingle Sensation, the “magazine without question marks,” and its sibling weekly Jingle Extra Hot that boasted “matitindi at matataray na columns at hot news.” “‘Yan ang mga bentang-benta noong araw. Nagsulat ako diyan. That made us,” she says, referring to her crop of enduring entertainment journalists that includes Jun Nardo and Manny Valera.

“Tapos noong ‘86, gumawa na ako ng Mariposa magazines na nagtagumpay naman.” But before she can elaborate on what made her six publications that came out every day of the week a hit, Adele’s “Someone Like You” blares off on one of her Nokia E52s. She has seven of these feature phones with a T9 keypad released in 2009. She’s holding on to them until next year when it is supposed to be phased out. “Sabi kasi ng NTC (National Telecommunications Commission), ito daw ang ginagamit ng mga scammer.”

This is her tip line. On a single day, it probably rings a hundred times. The other unit sings Bruno Mars’ “Versace On The Floor” whenever a message, usually dirt on some celebrity, comes through. That afternoon, following a blind item on her YouTube show “Showbiz Now Na,” most text messages were about which actors have a small dick or are “Duty Free” as she and her cabal of insiders call it. Who are their sources? I ask. She hands me the E52 whose screen cites the gays of Southern Tagalog city. “Ibig-sabihin na-getlak ng mga bading.”

Celebrities write their own stories, Fermin insists. Her job is to opine — which is what gets her into legal troubles — based on what they put out and from stories of people in these stars’ orbits: those they’ve casually slept with, disgruntled glam teams, disowned family members, wronged managers. They share too much online, she says, “At doon kami kumukuha. Public figure siya e. Kaya kami nanghihimasok. Binuksan mo ang pintuan [tapos] noong pumasok kami, kasalanan pa namin?”

Allusions to trespassing aside, it’s celebrities who often come knocking at her door to air their grievances. “Sabihin mo sa akin ang totoo, ipagtatanggol kita,” she assures them. If they tell her not to release it, she won’t. “‘Pag tumawag, ‘Nanay, pwede mo na ilabas.’ Papuputukin ko na.” Whether they come to her out of trust or as savvy public figures aware of her reach and reputation is the least of Fermin’s concerns. “Sa totoo ako lagi,” she says repeatedly during our hour-long interview, always with a straight face, her distinctive set of eyebrows on full display. “But the moment I find out na ikaw ay nagsisinungaling, ikaw ang bibirahin ko.”

Read more stories in our Guilty Pleasure of Showbiz Gossip Issue. Available to purchase at sarisari.shopping. Get digital access to Rolling Stone Philippines magazines here.