Olympic opening ceremony director fired for Holocaust joke

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998.

Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust.”

“We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Hashimoto said. “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.”

Tokyo has been plagued with scandals since being awarded the Games in 2013. French investigators are looking into alleged bribes paid to International Olympic Committee members to influence the vote for Tokyo. The fallout forced the resignation two years ago of Tsunekazu Takeda, who headed the Japanese Olympic Committee and was an IOC member.



This undated photo released by Tokyo 2020 shows Kentaro Kobayashi, a key director of Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony. The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee dismissed the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday, July 22, 2021 because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. (©Tokyo 2020 via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-entertainment-sports-health-coronavirus-pandemic-fd94ec7f2fd17723d38f8bcfdb663c7e

[raccoon]

1. He should work for Fox News or the Reptilican Party. Nt

[rpannier]

2. And another one

I posted a thread yesterday on how bad the Tokyo Olympic Committee has been
This guy just adds to the embarrassment of disasters

Just so people understand just how bad it's been
Oyamada told Quick Japan magazine in 1995 how he had confined a classmate in a cardboard box and forced a boy with an intellectual disability to eat his own faeces and masturbate in front of other children.

The committee’s former president, and former Japanese PM Yoshiro Mori, was forced to quit in February after making remarks about women in sports administration - he said they had no place in it. Then when he was roundly criticized, he invited women on the committee, but they were not supposed to speak at meetings because... "Talkative women make meetings drag on." (Mori liked to hang out with the Yakuza)

Creative Director Hiroshi Sasaki, who made disparaging comments about Japanese comedian Naomi Watanabe, and her weight. He thought it would be funny to have her dress up as a pig for the opening ceremonies. He called it, "The Olympig"

They've been on a roll. I wonder who's next

[jaxexpat]

3. Japanese comedy.... Who knew?

[LenaBaby61]

14. Oh yeah ..... And blackface too .... Very popular in Japan.

Japan's blackface problem: the country's bizarre, troubled relationship with race.


https://www.vox.com/2015/3/17/8230783/japan-racism-blackface


I remember being on twitter when this story caught fire. One of many Japanese people tweeted to me that I am too sensitive and that this guy was only portraying Eddie Murphy, but that's not how he feels about him. I told those people so, I guess nothing's "off limits?" then right? Okay, I guess it would be 'okay' if a black comedian made a joke about the bombing of Hiroshima, and how the buildings burned down like matchsticks huh? None of them who said that I was being sensitive tweeted me back signing off on that question I asked them about making fun of Hiroshima. I must say that there were several Japanese tweeters who upvoted my question, so good for them. THEY get it.

Some shit just isn't funny 😑

[jaxexpat]

16. Joke harvesting requires precise timing.

[jaxexpat]

17. Joke harvesting requires precise timing.

[twodogsbarking]

4. For the record none of it was funny.

More like hate disguised.

[NCjack]

5. Time for the Olympic's to return permanently to Greece.

[marble falls]

6. I actually think that's a great idea. Get the money politics out of it.

[AllaN01Bear]

11. and get the greed for medals out of it. baron de cobitrain. "

its not that you won, its that you came and partook." also the nationalisiim

[Orrex]

7. This time out the Olympics are an absolute dumpster fire.

Last edited Thu Jul 22, 2021, 09:29 AM - Edit history (1)

Did the have a planning committee, or was it a spur of the moment kind of thing?

[speak easy]

8. "a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998"

and it turns up just before the opening ceremony?

[3auld6phart]

9. Hmmmn

My thoughts exactly .

[SouthBayDem]

10. Is it that difficult to run background checks on people in Japan? Nt

[Escurumbele]

12. It is official, the World is going mad...So many weird things happening at the Olympics and

it hasn't even started officially...yes, some games have been played, like Soccer, but weird stuff.

Was it the women Norway volleyball team that was fined for not wearing bikinis??? Are there some perverts running the Olympics and they need to see five more inches of flesh??? What is going on?

[Jon King]

13. No, the Olympics do not require bikinis.

It was a tournament sponsor in the EU that required bikinis. The Olympics allow each team to decide what it will wear.

[Mawspam2]

15. Sounds to me like they are doing a Trump...

...have the guy do all the work, then fire him at the last minute so you don't have to pay him on the pretext of a 23 yo joke. Did the organizers not vet this guy before hiring him?