Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony director sacked for making a joke

The director of the opening ceremony of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed.

His sack is coming one day before the event is due to be held in the Japanese capital city.

Footage of Kobayashi from the 1990s recently emerged in which he seems to be making jokes about the Holocaust, a video that is said to be ridiculing “painful facts of history”.

Kobayashi has however issued a statement responding to his dismissal.

“Entertainment should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it,” the statement read.

Read Also: USA women stunned by Sweden in Tokyo Olympics opener

Kobayashi’s dismissal is the latest in a string of scandals to hit the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Recall that in March, creative chief Hiroshi Sasaki did quit after suggesting that plus-size comedian Naomi Watanabe could appear as an “Olympig”. He later apologised.

And in February, Yoshiro Mori was forced to step down as the head of the organising committee after he made remarks about women that were criticised as “inappropriate”.

The Games will be opened on Friday, 23 July, and is expected to close on 8 August.

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