7-11 2 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I bet this thread gets read coz of that title! Anyway, Morning Musume will never be the same, I don't know if I can continue being a fan. "I have betrayed my status as an 'idol' with this scandal". Er, why????? Have you ever heard anything as ridiculous as this (well, in the last 5 minutes anyway). ============================ Mari Yaguchi has been forced to give up her position as the leader of all-girl group Morning Musume in what has to rate as one of the most baffling scandals to have ever hit the Japanese entertainment business. But the 22-year-old's fall from grace also serves as an example of the amazing power that management companies have over their "idol" charges and shows how the merest snap or crackle reverberates in J-pop. Yaguchi's transgression was being caught on camera in a tryst with her boyfriend just a few hundred meters from her home at a time when her parents knew and approved of who she was with. Yet the scoop photos taken of her were enough to drive her out of Morning Musume, an entirely manufactured group created and updated from failed contestants on TV amateur talent shows, but one of the biggest acts in Japan. "I have betrayed my status as an 'idol' with this scandal," Shukan Josei (5/3) quotes Yaguchi saying in the fax she sent to media bodies announcing her resignation from Morning Musume. "I cannot continue under these conditions. I decided to take responsibility for my actions and consulted with my talent agency about quitting Morning Musume. The result of those discussions was that I would pursue a solo career." Yaguchi was captured on camera simply getting into a car and walking alongside her boyfriend, an actor called Shun Oguri. A mutual friend introduced the pair and they began dating in about the summer of last year. "Yaguchi apparently felt enormous pressure because of her status as one of the country's top idols," a TV network insider tells Shukan Josei. "Whenever she went out on private business, she always wore a baseball cap as a disguise, but it was always lower down on her face than it really needed to be to hide her." Yaguchi was apparently shocked almost speechless after the scandal sheet "exposed" her, a sign the women's weekly suggests that the star regarded her "idol" status a little too seriously. Accounts of Yaguchi and Oguri's love match are certainly far from scandalous, with Oguri witnessed by many on separate occasions as being the perfect gentleman who appeared to realize the chaste appearance his girlfriend needed to uphold in public. Unfortunately for the pair, even the most innocent of relationships appears to have been seen as a slur on the clean name Yaguchi's handlers expected her to maintain. "When other members of Morning Musume were exposed as having secret boyfriends, every member of the group was called into its talent agency and given a stern warning," a talent agency industry insider tells Shukan Josei. "They were all apparently told to tell the agency if they had found a boyfriend. Yaguchi never reported her relationship to the agency. And it had disastrous results for her." Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Isn't it obvious that the incident was engineered so that (a) her bored producer can get rid of her and get someone new in and ( she has a face-saving 'resignation'? Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 No, not obvious at all. Members of MM often leave for solo careers (it's like a revolving door right?) - no need for a "scandal" surrounding it. Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Sure - better to leave quietly than having a bit bonus publicity. Link to post Share on other sites
farquah 0 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 One of my students is on that programme and also on Yello Cab or something. Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Well, well.... as I posted my above response Siren changed his/her original "obviously you don't understand the meaning of free publicity" text to what is there now. That's why it might read a little strange now. Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 They never leave quietly. A MM leaving is always big story. I wonder who is really interested?! Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Mo Musu - boooooo. They have to be the leading candidate for biggest $hit group in this country As far as her scandal goes, what 22 year old isnt allowed to have a relationship? WTF? I wonder if she has a curfue as well? While were on this topic - Seems that many "talento" in this country get paid peanuts. Theyre contract workers so all the commercials, appearances, dramas, and everything else they do is under contract. What a life that must be Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I don't know about it, but I know some of them are very rich!! Link to post Share on other sites
Karnidge 2 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 As much as we almost definitely all hate them ----- SOMEONE is buying their records! I remember seeing the list of rich dudes every year around tax time - some of them sure are rich. I guess lots of the lesser ones are paid in peanuts though. Link to post Share on other sites
maoriboy 0 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 rich young talent....hmmm sounds good to me..any of the older ones still single? Link to post Share on other sites
veronica 2 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Quote: Yaguchi was captured on camera simply getting into a car and walking alongside her boyfriend That is just absurd. Link to post Share on other sites
NutteyCubey 0 Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Theres a 30 year old guy in my office who seems to be a "fan". He has MM keyring, on his keitai, even a small poster of them at his desk. Scary. Link to post Share on other sites
I'm Sexy 0 Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I think they are annoying. (And not very pretty - why them?) Link to post Share on other sites
ROM 0 Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 22 is a bit old for a MM, isn't it. I thought the concept was 13-17 year olds. Link to post Share on other sites
maoriboy 0 Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 Not pretty compared to you X????? hmmmmm Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 It's not as if they deserve more than being puppets, most of them. Link to post Share on other sites
flipside 0 Posted May 8, 2005 Share Posted May 8, 2005 Quote: Originally posted by Yamakashi: Mo Musu - boooooo. They have to be the leading candidate for biggest $hit group in this country As far as her scandal goes, what 22 year old isnt allowed to have a relationship? WTF? I wonder if she has a curfue as well? While were on this topic - Seems that many "talento" in this country get paid peanuts. Theyre contract workers so all the commercials, appearances, dramas, and everything else they do is under contract. What a life that must be Sorry to jump back a bit but I found this interesting. Yes, what a life it must be. I had a student who was talent-scouted by one of the (as she said) more reputable agencies. They meet the family and get permission from her and her parents to take her under their controlling wing. Get this, she was told that she must move to Tokyo and part of the contract states that she was to cease contact with friends and of course 'no boy-friends'. It seems a good opportunity to begin a new career, but that means erasing your past. Imagine how many of those 'talents' their are out there who haven't made it and have no friends cause the company owns them. You said it...what a life that must be. No surprises that I haven't heard from her since she signed. Link to post Share on other sites
zebedee 1 Posted May 8, 2005 Share Posted May 8, 2005 Why do they have to not have boyfriends? Some pervy idoru-otaku wish for them to be virgins or something? Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Yep, something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird2 0 Posted May 19, 2005 Share Posted May 19, 2005 Do they have to take a virginity test I wonder? Far fetched? Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts