Tokyo Olympic President Resigns After Calling Japanese Comedian "Olympig"
Salena Harshini|Mar 22, 2021
Hiroshi Sasaki - creative director in charge of the opening and closing ceremony of the Olympic and Paralympic Tokyo - decided to resign after a controversial statement aimed at comedian Naomi Watanabe.
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Since the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the pandemic, the organizing team has triggered many scandals. Last month, the President resigned for saying that women talk too much.
Another senior staff is now also stepping down from the post after a derogatory statement targeting a comedian.
Calling her "Olympig"
A weekly magazine broke news on Wednesday that Hiroshi Sasaki, the chief creative director for the Olympics and Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies, called Naomi Watanabe a pig.
The revealed screenshots showed that he had made the suggestions on March 5, 2020. The conversation on the LINE app also included the planning team members. His message even included multiple pig emojis.
Hiroshi Sasaki said that Naomi could go down from the sky as an “Olympig” for the opening stage. However, the team members immediately opposed the proposal.
The idea was withdrawn with no news being made. It was one year later when brought it to light.
When people raised concerns over his sexist remark, an Organising Committee executive said,
“Even pig emojis are used, which leads to it being a human rights problem and more serious than ex-chairman Mori’s situation. The IOC will not protect him.”
Then, Sasaki submitted his resignation to Seiko Hashimoto, to the President of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee.
The 66-year-old Sasaki admitted to making that inappropriate suggestion. He said that he regretted it,
“I tend to make a lot of bad puns and this one just slipped out of my mouth. I thought she would look charming as an “Olympig”, dressed in a pink outfit with her tongue poking out, but I was immediately scolded by male staff.”
How Naomi Watanabe reacted
Before his senior spot on the organizing committee of the Olympics, he had worked for Dentsu, a controversial advertising giant. He produced multiple famous commercials.
As for Naomi Watanabe, the 33-year-old has recently made the move to the United States to extend her horizons.
Initially, she remained silent on the scandal. However, she has released a statement via her agency Yoshimoto Kogyo. The note was written in three languages, English, Japanese, Chinese.
As Naomi Watanabe, a person in the public eye, it is true that there are times when people have told me my physique is large, and I have been working with the understanding that there will be times when I will be taunted for it.
"In reality, I am very happy with my figure. Therefore, I want to continue to express myself not only as someone who is large but as ‘Naomi Watanabe.’
However, as one human being, I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that the world can become a joyous place where each person’s individuality and ideas are respected and accepted by all.
I also have a lot to learn myself, but with the help and guidance of those around me, I will continue to dedicate myself to creating entertainment that everyone can enjoy.”
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