A day before the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, the show’s director has been fired over a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy routine 23 years ago.
Kentaro Kobayashi has been axed from his post after a clip of his 1998 act surfaced on social media that included the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust.”
The president of the Olympic Organizing Committee apologized in announcing Kobayashi’s dismissal. “We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Seiko Hashimoto said, per the Associated Press. “We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”
Read the Tooc’s official statement below.
Kobayashi also issued a statement today. Roughly translated from Japanese, per NBC, he...
Kentaro Kobayashi has been axed from his post after a clip of his 1998 act surfaced on social media that included the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust.”
The president of the Olympic Organizing Committee apologized in announcing Kobayashi’s dismissal. “We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Seiko Hashimoto said, per the Associated Press. “We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”
Read the Tooc’s official statement below.
Kobayashi also issued a statement today. Roughly translated from Japanese, per NBC, he...
- 7/22/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have fired Kentaro Kobayashi, the creative director of the opening ceremony, after video emerged of him making a Holocaust joke during a comedic act in the Nineties.
The decision comes just a day before the Olympics opening ceremony was to be held for the delayed games. In the skit, Kobayashi joked about “massacring Jews” while miming the act of cutting up human figures made of paper.
“I understand that my choice of words was wrong, and regret it,” Kobayashi said in a statement. “I apologize to those who felt displeasure.
The decision comes just a day before the Olympics opening ceremony was to be held for the delayed games. In the skit, Kobayashi joked about “massacring Jews” while miming the act of cutting up human figures made of paper.
“I understand that my choice of words was wrong, and regret it,” Kobayashi said in a statement. “I apologize to those who felt displeasure.
- 7/22/2021
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada has resigned from the creative team for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics after old interviews resurfaced in which he admitted to bullying a childhood classmate with disabilities, The Japan Times reports.
Oyamada, also known by his stage name Cornelius, made the comments in a pair of interviews in the mid-Nineties when his career was taking off. The popular Japanese music blog, Arma! Japan, stated that Oyamada told reporters that he tormented a classmate from elementary school through high school, with the blog characterizing Oyamada...
Oyamada, also known by his stage name Cornelius, made the comments in a pair of interviews in the mid-Nineties when his career was taking off. The popular Japanese music blog, Arma! Japan, stated that Oyamada told reporters that he tormented a classmate from elementary school through high school, with the blog characterizing Oyamada...
- 7/19/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
The Yoko Ono Plastic Band is releasing "Take Me to the Land of Hell" on Sept. 17, but fans will be pleased to hear that Yoko Ono will post one track on the album on the band's website each week, where it will remain until it is replaced by another on the following Monday.
"Cheshire Cat Cry," which features Lenny Kravitz, follows the previously teased single "Moonbeams" as the first track to debut as part of the great unveil. On the song, Ono sings, "We, the expendable people of the United States, hold these dreams to be self-destructive."
In an interview about the album and her continued efforts in activism and the arts, Ono told HuffPost Entertainment that she was delighted by the idea of debuting the songs in such a manner. "That wasn't my idea, someone here thought of it but I love that idea," the 80-year-old said. "I thought,...
"Cheshire Cat Cry," which features Lenny Kravitz, follows the previously teased single "Moonbeams" as the first track to debut as part of the great unveil. On the song, Ono sings, "We, the expendable people of the United States, hold these dreams to be self-destructive."
In an interview about the album and her continued efforts in activism and the arts, Ono told HuffPost Entertainment that she was delighted by the idea of debuting the songs in such a manner. "That wasn't my idea, someone here thought of it but I love that idea," the 80-year-old said. "I thought,...
- 7/31/2013
- by Kia Makarechi
- Huffington Post
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