Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony Director Fired Over Video Mocking Holocaust Victims

The director of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Kentaro Kobayashi, was fired after a video of his 1998 performance was posted on social media, in which Kobayashi ridiculed the victims of the Holocaust. About this how transfers The Associated Press, head of the organizing committee, Seiko Hashimoto, said.

“We learned that Kobayashi, in his own performance, used a phrase that made fun of historical tragedy. We deeply apologize for this development the day before the opening ceremony, as well as the concerns and concerns of many stakeholders, ”said Hashimoto.

We are talking about a video in which Kobayashi, as part of the comedy duo Rahmens, scattered paper cut-out figures representing the victims of a historical tragedy and offered to “play the Holocaust”.

As the head of the organizing committee Seiko Hashimoto explained, Kobayashi apologized for his words 30 years ago.

“As many have pointed out, my comments were indeed completely inappropriate.” leads his words are TASS.

On July 9, Japanese composer Keigo Oyamada, who worked on the music for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, announced his resignation. Oyamada made a similar decision against the backdrop of a scandal after the dissemination of statements from his 1994 and 1995 interviews on social networks. In them, the composer admitted that at school he mocked classmates with disabilities.

The Olympic Games in Tokyo, postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held from July 23 to August 8 with virtually no spectators and in accordance with strict quarantine rules.