Tokyo Olympics creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigns after making demeaning comments

Tokyo Olympics creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigns after making demeaning comments

Hiroshi Sasaki

The creative director of the Tokyo Olympic Games has resigned from his post after furore was caused over demeaning comments that he made about a female celebrity. This scandal comes just a month after the president of the organizing committee of Tokyo 2020 Yoshiro Mori had to resign over similar sexist comments that he made at a meeting stating that women tended to talk too much.

Further, the then head of the Japanese Olympic Committee in 2019, Tsunekazu Takeda had to resign after a bribery scandal arose in which ‘vote-buying’ was recognized involving members of the International Olympic Committee. Such scandals and especially sexist ones at that have been rocking the Games for quite some time now and they don’t paint a very good picture of the organizing committee.

Hiroshi Sasaki calls Naomi Watanabe an ‘Olympig’

Naomi Watanabe
Naomi Watanabe

Hiroshi Sasaki who is in charge of the creation and organization of the ceremonies for the Olympic Games reportedly made the comments during a staff meeting last year which has come to light only now. On being asked about the prospect of letting Japanese entertainer Naomi Watanabe perform in the opening or closing ceremonies of the Games, he had joked that she could perform as an ‘Olympic’.

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After furore, Sasaki announced that he was stepping down by releasing a statement saying, “For Ms. Naomi Watanabe, my idea and comments are a big insult. And it is unforgivable,” Sasaki said. “I offer my deepest regrets and apologise from the depth of my heart to her, and those who may have been offended by this. It is truly regrettable, and I apologise from the bottom of my heart.”

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