Tokyo organiser quits over 'huge insult'

The creative chief of the Tokyo Olympics has been forced to quit after suggesting a female comedian be lowered into the stadium dressed as a pig.

In a group text chat with fellow organisers, Hiroshi Sasaki said he thought the idea of making Naomi Watanabe into an ‘Olympig’ would be ‘cute’ and ‘charming’.

But he was immediately reprimanded by other members of the team, and says he subsequently felt ‘remorse’ over the comments.

The former advertising executive offered his resignation after the incident was reported by Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun, and admitted his comments were a ‘huge insult’ to Watanabe.

‘I regret this from the bottom of my heart and I deeply apologise to her and everyone who felt discomfort over this,’ he said.

Watanabe - who has spearheaded a body positivity movement in Japan - said she was ‘surprised’ by 66-year-old Sasaki’s comments.‘I’m happy with my body shape,’ she added.

It is the second sexism storm to hit the Tokyo Games after  original president Yoshiro Mori was forced to quit after saying women talk too much in meetings.

His replacement, Seiko Hashimoto, said of the latest row: ‘It is very inappropriate to make comments that ridicule people's appearances. Mr. Sasaki has said in his statement that the comments were insulting, and I believe that it was something that should have never happened.’

Watanabe, 33, rose to fame in Japan in 2008 for her imitation of Beyoncé and has her own plus-sized  fashion line called Punyus (loosely translated to ‘chubby’ in English)

On stage, she has played Mabel in Fame and Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray and in movies she has voiced the character of Ashima in the Japanese dub of the Thomas & Friends: The Great Race, Melissa McCarthy’s character Abby Yates in Ghostbusters and Amy Schumer’s lead role in I Feel Pretty.

Published: 18 Mar 2021