Prominent in Japan for some time now (where is the proof?)? Wow, is Ayu really that popular that the general public is still talking about what she might've done 10 years ago? Funny how until now people haven't mentioned it 
Well, I guess some simply live for making a big deal out of everything that's negative when it comes to Ayu.
But don't worry, this will affect her as much as the ViVi book promo incident did. If things like this actually had an affect on her career I think she'd be long gone by now.