Osvaldo Benavides was on the invitation. His name appeared alongside Macarena García and Luis de la Rosa for a special Los Angeles screening of Timbiriche on Monday night. But when ViX brought the series to the Culver Theater in Culver City, Benavides had not traveled to Los Angeles.
It was his second absence from the series' U.S. promotional schedule in four days. The veteran Mexican actor had also been announced for interviews in Miami on Friday, Oct. 9, but did not appear. 21-year-old Sebastián Poza, who plays a character inspired by Benny Ibarra, took sole responsibility in the Miami promotion.
This reporter contacted TelevisaUnivision about Benavides's absence. "We have no information," said a source who referred us to the actor's team. His publicist responded: "I am on vacation," adding, "I know he is happy with the project." However, the team did not give a reason for the actor's decision not to travel.
That missing explanation is conspicuous because Benavides is more than another cast member. He plays a character inspired by Luis de Llano, the powerful producer whose relationship with Timbiriche member Sasha Sokol when she was 14 has become central to the series.
Benavides has also spoken about the project as an executive producer. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said addressing the abuse was one of the main reasons he became involved.
He was willing to discuss it in Mexico. At the series' Oct. 6 press conference, Benavides said leaving Sokol's story out would have been a mistake. "If the series didn't touch on the subject, I don't think I would have agreed to play the character," he said. "We can't pretend the reality didn't happen."
Hours after that Mexico City presentation, six members of the real Timbiriche publicly distanced themselves from the production. Alix Bauer, Diego Schoening, Mariana Garza, Erik Rubín, Benny Ibarra and Sokol said they had not participated in creating the series, had not been consulted about its stories and had not authorized the use of their image, voice or identity.
Their objection goes to the heart of ViX's pitch: the platform calls Timbiriche a fictional story inspired by real events, while the people whose lives made it possible say they were left out of the telling.
After that press conference in Mexico City, where he responded to the Timbiriche member's statement, Benavides seemed to dissappear from all promotional efforts.
By Monday, ViX was promoting the show in Los Angeles. Macarena García, the cast at The Culver Theater, where the invitation had promised Benavides, García and de la Rosa for a reception and screening. Benavides's absence meant the younger actors were left to represent the series during its U.S. launch, even as questions persisted about the real band's objections and the portrayal of Sokol's experience.
Benavides was active in promoting another release around the same time. El Círculo, a Netflix thriller in which he stars, premiered Oct. 7, and he posted about it on his social media account during the last few days. He posted about the Timbiriche series up to the day the controversy exploded.
That does not explain where he was Monday night or why he missed the Miami interviews. It does show that his absence from the Timbiriche promotion was not a complete withdrawal from discussing his work. The first two episodes of Timbiriche arrived on ViX on Oct. 9, with new episodes scheduled for Fridays. Benavides has defended the decision to tell its most difficult story. For its U.S. rollout, however, the actor playing the man at the center of that story was missing from the appearances where reporters could ask him about it.
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