Mexico City legal authorities have issued an order prohibiting Ventaneando host Ricardo Manjarrez from approaching Miguel Gallego Arámbula, the eldest son of Mexican superstar Luis Miguel and actress Aracely Arámbula, months after the television program publicly revealed the young man's face.
The legal restriction represents a new development in a controversy that began in March, when Ventaneando broadcast images of the famously private 19-year-old at Mexico City's international airport. Arámbula, who has spent years shielding her two sons with Luis Miguel from public exposure, reportedly considered the incident a violation of Miguel's privacy.
According to Mexican outlet Radio Fórmula, which reported on the document, the order was issued in Mexico City and prevents Manjarrez from approaching Miguel. The measure brings the dispute into the legal arena after months of debate in Mexico over the media's decision to expose the identity of the adult son of two celebrities who had largely remained outside public life.
The controversy began on March 9, when Ventaneando aired footage of Arámbula traveling through the airport with Miguel and her younger son, Daniel. Manjarrez obtained the images, which the TV Azteca entertainment program presented as an exclusive.
The program blurred Daniel's face because he was still a minor but showed Miguel without censorship because he was already 19. The broadcast was significant because Arámbula had successfully kept recent images of both sons largely out of the media for most of their lives.
Manjarrez defended the decision at the time.
"The decision editorially was to blur Daniel's face because he is a minor. Miguel is already nineteen years old," Manjarrez said during Ventaneando, according to Infobae. The journalist also argued that the images were recorded in a public area of the airport and that the crew had not entered a private or restricted space.
The explanation did little to stop the backlash. Critics questioned whether Miguel's legal adulthood alone justified exposing his identity when he had never sought a public career and his mother had consistently tried to keep him away from celebrity coverage.
Miguel, born in January 2007, is the older of Arámbula and Luis Miguel's two sons. Daniel was born in 2008. Despite having two of Latin entertainment's most recognizable figures as parents, the brothers have largely grown up outside the spotlight.
Arámbula's family has also publicly defended that separation.
"They are not public figures," Arámbula's niece Abigail Arámbula said earlier this year while discussing Miguel and Daniel's privacy, according to Quién. The comments came after the airport images generated widespread attention online and were republished by entertainment outlets across Mexico and Latin America.
The dispute also raises a complicated question about privacy protections for the adult children of celebrities. Miguel is legally an adult, but that does not automatically make him a public figure or mean he has chosen to participate in the publicity surrounding his parents.
For Arámbula, protecting her sons' identities has been a consistent priority. The actress has occasionally spoken about Miguel and Daniel publicly but has generally avoided displaying their faces on social media or bringing them into the entertainment industry.
Luis Miguel has three children. In addition to Miguel and Daniel, he is the father of Michelle Salas, his daughter with Stephanie Salas. Michelle, unlike her younger half-brothers, has chosen a public career and has established herself as a model and social media personality.
The Mexico City order against Manjarrez now gives the controversy a legal dimension that goes beyond criticism of Ventaneando's editorial decision.
It also comes after previous legal problems involving members of the long-running TV Azteca program. In 2023, Manjarrez and fellow Ventaneando personalities Pati Chapoy and Pedro Sola faced protective measures stemming from a dispute involving actress Daniela Spanic. A judge subsequently lifted those restrictions.
In the latest case, however, the person at the center of the dispute is not an entertainer seeking publicity but the son of two celebrities who has largely remained outside the public eye.
