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Opening ceremony director fired on Tokyo Games eve over Holocaust joke
Reuters ^ | July 22, 2021 4:42 AM EDT | Kiyoshi Takenaka, Mari Saito

Posted on 07/22/2021 1:49:56 AM PDT by Olog-hai

Tokyo Olympics organizers have fired the opening ceremony director on the eve of the event after reports emerged of a past joke he had made about the Holocaust, while media said former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a strong advocate of the Games, would also not attend.

The latest in a series of embarrassments for the Tokyo organizers comes just days after a well-known musician was forced to step down as composer for the ceremony after old reports of his bullying and abusive behavior surfaced. […]

Tokyo Games organizers fired Kentaro Kobayashi on Thursday over a joke he made about the Holocaust as part of a comedy act in the 1990s that recently resurfaced in domestic media.

“I offer my deep apology for causing trouble and worry for many people concerned as well as Tokyo residents and Japanese people when the opening ceremony is almost upon us,” said a somber Seiko Hashimoto, who heads the organizing committee.

Earlier, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization, released a statement saying Kobayashi’s association with the Olympics would “insult the memory” of the 6 million Jewish people who perished in the Holocaust. …

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: History; Sports; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: holocaust; kobayashi; olympics; tokyo2020

1 posted on 07/22/2021 1:49:56 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai
Tokyo Games organizers fired Kentaro Kobayashi on Thursday over a joke he made about the Holocaust as part of a comedy act in the 1990s that recently resurfaced in domestic media.

...for a joke made perhaps as much as THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Notice also that his having made a joke is referenced numerous - but that the joke, itself, is never cited verbatim.

Regards,

2 posted on 07/22/2021 1:56:30 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Olog-hai

Strange “humor”.


3 posted on 07/22/2021 1:57:47 AM PDT by Right Wing Vegan
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To: Olog-hai

He should of claimed he was a woke women.


4 posted on 07/22/2021 2:35:01 AM PDT by Leep (Save America. Lock down Joe Biden!)
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To: alexander_busek
The New York Post mentions the joke:

"Kentaro Kobayashi, a comedian, was dismissed one day before the opening ceremony of the pandemic-delayed Games for the skit in which he said 'Let's play Holocaust.'"

https://nypost.com/2021/07/22/kentaro-kobayashi-fired-as-2020-olympic-opening-ceremony-director-for-holocaust-joke/

Outrage, not only about this, but about so many things, seems so arbitrarily directed; so hit or miss.

Sarah Silverman has joked about the Holocaust.

https://forward.com/schmooze/414359/sarah-silverman-schools-nazi-prom-boys-on-how-to-make-a-good-holocaust/

Seinfeld had an episode about Jerry making out with his girlfriend in the theater during Schindler's List.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoIOYPU5WA

In 1966, Mad magazine did a parody of Hogan's Heroes called Hochman's Heroes, set in a concentration camp.

http://hofbrau.freeservers.com/hochman1.htm

5 posted on 07/22/2021 2:50:41 AM PDT by Angelino97
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To: All

Seems like “cancel culture” has invaded japan too.


6 posted on 07/22/2021 3:01:45 AM PDT by escapefromboston (Free Chauvin)
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To: Olog-hai

What a cluster.

All involved are gonna lose their shirts.

Betcha the games get cancelled and CoupFlu blamed in order to try to have insurance cover some of the losses.


7 posted on 07/22/2021 3:34:41 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: Olog-hai

Fake Olympics.


8 posted on 07/22/2021 5:35:51 AM PDT by NWFree (Somebody has to say it)
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To: Olog-hai

Being canned for the past is a No-Win Scenario.

Kubayashi found that out!


9 posted on 07/22/2021 6:27:28 AM PDT by left that other site (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9))
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To: left that other site
Being canned for the past is a No-Win Scenario.

Kobayashi Maru!

10 posted on 07/22/2021 6:29:49 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: left that other site

Kobayashi: The No-Win Scenario

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobayashi_Maru

Not even Mel Brooks jokes about the holocaust. I can’t IMAGINE anyone doing such a thing. But a lot can happen to a soul in 30 years.


11 posted on 07/22/2021 6:30:23 AM PDT by left that other site (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9))
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To: Olog-hai

If he said “Let’s Play Unit 731”, or “Let’s Play Rape of Nanking” that would have been perfectly ok.


12 posted on 07/22/2021 6:32:38 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

You’re Quick on the Draw! LOL.


13 posted on 07/22/2021 6:33:25 AM PDT by left that other site (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9))
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To: escapefromboston

Think about which country, which has a lot of control over our media, would love to stick it to Japan at every turn.


14 posted on 07/22/2021 6:33:56 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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