Olympics Composer Keigo Oyamada Resigns After Outrage Over Past Bullying of disabled

[Demovictory9]

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’s comments at the time as “boastful.”

In the interviews, Oyamada reportedly said he would force his classmate to eat his own feces and masturbate in front of other students. He also reportedly made the boy walk around the school with his penis exposed, tied him up, trapped him in a box, and duct-taped a cardboard box around his head and poured chalk dust inside.

https://talesbuzz.com/tokyo-olympics-composer-steps-down-after-comments-about-bullying-classmate-resurface/


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In both the January 1994 issue of the Rockin’On Japan magazine and the March 1995 issue of the Quick Japan magazine, the composer had confessed to bullying classmates with disabilities.

A change.org petition with over 30,000 signatures had been set up calling for his resignation, citing quotes from the interview, where he confessed, “I’d strip (one disabled kid) naked and roll him up in cords and make (him) masturbate. I made him eat shit and then performed a belly-to-back-drop wrestling move on him.”

Many Twitter users expressed their disgust at the hiring of Oyamada. One user wrote, “Athletes with disabilities will come to the Paralympic Opening Ceremony with the music of this Keigo Oyamada. What a joke from Tokyo.” Another posted, “The music of Keigo Oyamada, who once abused minorities and people with mental disabilities, should not be eligible for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

https://variety.com/2021/artisans/news/olympics-composer-resigns-1235022906/


With the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic games days away, composer Keigo Oyamada has stepped down, after quotes in which he acknowledged bullying classmates in his youth resurfaced and stirred controversy.

Keigo Oyamada, 52, also known as Cornelius, posted on his social media platforms, “I sincerely accept the opinions and advice I have received, express my gratitude, and will keep them in mind for my future actions and thoughts. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.” He added, “As for my participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I acutely feel that my having accepted the request was lacking consideration for various people.”

“I made arrangements with relevant parties and submitted my resignation to the organizing committee.”


“We offer our deepest apologies for the offense and confusion caused to so many during this time,” organizers said. Oyamada, 52, apologized online last week, writing, "We sincerely apologize for making many people feel very uncomfortable about my participation in music production at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games... I am deeply sorry for my classmates and their parents who have been hurt by my remarks and actions, and in school life, which is supposed to make fun memories, I did not become a good friend, but rather I was in a position to hurt. I feel deep regret and responsibility. When I was a student and at the time of the interview, I think I was a very immature person who could not imagine the feelings of the victims."

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9603174/cornelius-keigo-oyamada-resigns-olympic-opening-ceremony-bullying/


Oyamada, whose works have been compared with the American rock musician Beck, talked about the abuse in Japanese magazine interviews he gave in the 1990s.

In a statement on Sunday, Atsuko Kubo, head of an association of families of the mentally disabled, “strongly protested” against Oyamada’s past actions and said it was disturbing he had targeted the disabled, who were less likely to fight back, and that he still bragged about it years later.

https://apnews.com/article/composer-keigo-oyamada-bullying-2020-tokyo-olympics-674cac7836e317f9926a94ed93fee884

[Celerity]

1. he would force his classmate to eat his own faeces and masturbate in front of other students

[Demovictory9]

3. yep and was still bragging about it 25 years ago - he's age 52 now.

he abused this kid from elementary thru high school and other kids too.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Imagine bragging publicly about how you assaulted disabled people, and THEN STILL getting the nod

to be the Olympic composer.

[Demovictory9]

4. yeah

[kirkuchiyo]

5. Or President... nt

[catbyte]

6. What the hell were teachers and school administrators doing while all this was going on?!?

Wow. That behavior goes way beyond "bullying." Those were assaults and he should've been arrested.

[Demovictory9]

7. Sexual assaults..imagine if he had mistreated a nondisabled female in that manner

He deserves jail

[BeckyDem]

8. The abuse he described should have been met with criminal charges.

What a horrendous story. I hope his victims have healed from having known this awful man.

[malaise]

9. The entire Olympic movement was fueled by

Fascists, monarchies, racists and Military folks.
Houlihan's Sport and International Politics is a good read