This film was part of an intense, front-page-of-newspapers controversy in Puerto Rico in early March of 2016 when it was revealed that writer-director
Eduardo Ortíz had basically plagiarized it almost in its entirety - word-for-word, scene-for-scene, and shot-for-shot - when he did his film
Vasos De Papel (2016), and had tried to make everybody believe that the screenplay had been created and written by himself. The film had only been playing at Puerto Rican cinemas for a few days when the first articles pointing out the similarities between the two films, and pointing out that there was no mention anywhere of it being based on 'Secret Admirer', arose. Once the film was no longer being shown in cinemas across Puerto Rico, Mr. Ortíz first issued a statement saying that there were "certain similarities between one film and the other, not plagiarism. Everything is a matter of interpretation". Only a few hours after making that statement, Mr. Ortíz changed it, saying in a radio interview that he "had done something terribly wrong", and apologizing to his cast and crew. Mr. Ortíz had ignored and/or refused to comment on the issue until actress
Natalia Lugo, who played the lead on
Vasos De Papel (2016), released a statement on social media where she both condemned the film and expressed the embarrassment she felt when she saw 'Secret Admirer', and came to understand how she and her fellow actors and crew had been duped.
