Tokyo Olympic opening ceremony director fired for a Holocaust joke

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

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2020 Tokyo olympics | Olympics | Holocaust bill

AP  |  Tokyo 

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. (AP Photo)
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. (AP Photo)

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 opening ceremony 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, in one of his shows.

His dismissal comes the day before Friday's opening ceremony of the pandemic-delayed Games.

Earlier this week, a composer whose music is expected to be used at the opening ceremony was forced to resign because of past bullying of his classmates, which he boasted about in magazine interviews.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Thu, July 22 2021. 09:58 IST