Singer Ayumi Hamasaki implicated in drug scandal

[truehappiness]

Singapore is exactly one hour later than japan so Singapore CNA posted 11hours later than Ayu. It is not 2 hour of difference.

The time difference was what I was talking about not the time inbetween the posted dates. And it is one hour, so I will correct it.

[behwatch]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

The time difference was what I was talking about not the time inbetween the posted dates. And it is one hour, so I will correct it.

haha no problem now i understand lolz

[AyUta]

I don't understand what's going on either. What do they mean? They were trying to sell ayu out?

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by AyUta

I don't understand what's going on either. What do they mean? They were trying to sell ayu out?

The way it's written, it sounds like it's mainly speculation that avex was trying to sell off management rights to Ayu in fear of their stock going down because of the association to the drug scandal which was first mentioned 4 months ago. However, unnamed "industry observers" say that the amount of money they were trying to sell the rights for was too low. (? at this since avex probably wouldn't act on rumors/speculation/tabloids...)

I wonder just where this speculation comes from sometimes. Does someone actually find the information from an insider at avex or do they just get drunk with a few other reporter buddies and use whatever sounds most ridiculous? "Hey! Maybe we should print another Ayu pregnancy rumor!" "Brilliant."

[VRGRK]

^ hahaha that is just funny...

[Sandre]

Confused.
When did Ayu involve in drug scandal? It's so sudden.

[Misa-chan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

The way it's written, it sounds like it's mainly speculation that avex was trying to sell off management rights to Ayu in fear of their stock going down because of the association to the drug scandal which was first mentioned 4 months ago. However, unnamed "industry observers" say that the amount of money they were trying to sell the rights for was too low. (? at this since avex probably wouldn't act on rumors/speculation/tabloids...)

Yeah. I thought it funny, how they're selling ayu off for an amount she could easily earn back in a year. Won't they lose money in the end?

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I believe she posted the message before the news article was posted.

TeamAyu: 12th January, 2010 3:06am (Japan time)
Article: 12 January 2010 4:09pm (Singaporean time)

There's an hour or so difference between the two (Singapore is an hour behind Tokyo), but Ayu posted that she was sick nearly half a day before the article came out, so it's definitely just coincidence imo.

not saying that I want her to be in drugs or something lol

but just because she said she was sick before the article was officially published...doesn't really mean anything lol

her team is most likely getting a ton of calls about it and they probably knew they were going to say something lol

[truehappiness]

I doubt they were getting calls about it. This was already reported in Japanese news (was it even Japanese news? For the most part, a lot of the posts in September were just Asian news sites.), just with some names filled in and the avex-selling-Ayu-off speculation added in. It reminds me of TMZ but with a trashier feel to it. And TMZ's pretty trashy.

The reason why I said that was because someone mentioned how it seemed strange that she was sick and "stayed home" (she mentioned that she was sick but still working) after the article was published, but that wasn't the case. Sometimes people seem to read too much into things. However, it does seem pretty weird. She said she was sick a few days before the news broke in the first week of September, on the 3rd-5th, and the "scandal" came about 2 or 3 days after. Who knows, maybe they love scheduling these articles around when she's sick? Damn those reporters!

And those lols? This isn't a very funny topic, imo.

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

again Noguchi's name next to drug

[Mayayu]

i hope Mika Noguchi isn't having a bad influence on Ayu (>_<)

anyway, sounds like name dropping. Ayu knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who does drug.... no big deal, right?

[AyuWorld]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

The reason why I said that was because someone mentioned how it seemed strange that she was sick and "stayed home" (she mentioned that she was sick but still working) after the article was published, but that wasn't the case. Sometimes people seem to read too much into things. However, it does seem pretty weird. She said she was sick a few days before the news broke in the first week of September, on the 3rd-5th, and the "scandal" came about 2 or 3 days after. Who knows, maybe they love scheduling these articles around when she's sick? Damn those reporters!

yea,i agree,seems like they just wanna make it a hot news to attract people
in fact i cant see any signs that ayu's taking drugs or whatever.she even enjoy her life with her staff even she had filmed a new CM and what's interesting is when they mentioned about her #1 streak for consecutive 12 years,using this new record and then just blend it with drug related news seems nothing to me what a lame news! peoples always didnt really comfortable with the successful of others and love to ruin their reputation

[Midori-chan]

There were some news of this a few months ago, but Ayu has got nothing to do with it!!
Only because she is friend with someone who is involved, makes her suspicious?
Oh, please!

Stupid! Really!
Come on, Ayu is far too intelligent for doing such a thing! -.-''

I wonder how long Ayu needs to go on suffering, until people let her live her life in peace!!!

[kiseki89]

Originally Posted by KarenPang

O.O

wow the fact that it was reported in my country's Channel News Asia's website that's saying something

this's just well you know

anyway i thought this new is rather old?

[greenteadrinker]

Originally Posted by kiseki89

anyway i thought this new is rather old?

Yes, this is very old news. There was a super long thread discussing this in AHS. We first heard about it in Aug/Sept, after Noriko Sakai's arrest. The Japanese government then raided Avex's office, on the pretext of Ayu's "traffic violation" in Shibuya cos of her book launch but we all know they were looking for evidence of drug use amongst Avex employees. They didn't find anything but the tabloids printed articles about Ayu's so-called "involvement" because her friend Mika Nogouchi (Peach John owner) was brought in for questioning as someone died of drug overdose at a party of Mika's tenant. The media also speculated about Ayu's involvement because she once made enquiries about buying an apartment Noriko Sakai once owned.

So the gist of the story is basically that Ayu's "involved" because she knows someone who knows someone who took drugs and that she once enquired about Noriko Sakai's apartment. Which is really silly because just about everyone in the industry probably knows someone else who takes drugs.

All a bunch of tabloid bull. If they had any evidence at all, she'd have been arrested by now, just like how a bunch of other pple in Japanese entertainment have been.

Having said that, this isn't necessarily bad publicity. "Ayumi Hamasaki" is now the number 1 most searched topic on Yahoo Singapore. And right next to the CNA article are pictures of the NEXT LEVEL cover.

[SunshineSlayer]

^ Pretty much what you said, except it is not actually a tabloid story - this isn't just something totally made up, it's an actual case. Also, we don't know what if anything the Japanese police found at Avex. Like I said, if something was found, it wouldn't surprise me if it took years to come to light (either about Ayu or anyone else in Avex) unless the police come up with some kind of smoking bullet.

Originally Posted by njanjayrp

I am sorry but the last sentence made me LOL, how on earth could you possibly know that for sure...it's one thing to speculate, but you seem to be 100% sure. It obviously didn't affect her career so even if it is, who cares?

Because there would be news reports all over Japan if the case had actually been finished, but there are not. All you hear about in Japan is how these investigations are ongoing and that between this and the Sakai case, lots of people in the entertainment industry have been implicated, but nothing is finalized yet. (and with all the money that are behind the companies that are implicated it will probably be a long time, if ever, that anything actually happens) That does not mean that people want it to be true. That's about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. It simply means they are not in denial about it and understand what the implications to her career are if the story ever really blows up.

Originally Posted by emiko

You know, people saying that it's still an on-going investigation and that she's being investigated, doesn't mean anything, or anything against her, just that...um the case is still being investigated.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

It appears as though when Mika's blog reopened, she mentioned that because the investigation was still going on, that she wasn't going to say much about it

[njanjayrp]

^ there would be news and reports assuming there was actually something to report in the first place, which we don't know and people who are supposedly not in denial obviously for some reason strongly believe that there is.

So I was wondering if you think that AVEX would let her plan a new tour and release an album if there was a remote possibility that it could be proven she was involved in this "scandal"?

[SunshineSlayer]

^ All I'm saying is, this is not a tabloid story and it is a current ongoing investigation. Whether Ayu is really involved, who knows? But even just being associated with drugs in Japan can be something that is very damaging. Right now you don't see it on the front page of newspapers because there is nothing new to report, but that certainly doesn't mean that it isn't still going on behind the scenes and that it is not going to pop up again later (and bigger).

And yes, of course Avex would. Whether she is involved or not, they are going to want to get as much money out of her while they still can.

[njanjayrp]

^ if it's very damaging (as I presume it is, obviously) one would assume they wouldn't want their company associated with people like that, the sooner they drop her, the better for them.

[krazeyo]

^Avex isn't just dealing with anyone here If it was an up and coming star, avex probably would drop them, but it's Ayumi Hamasaki. It's still an on-going investigation, so they won't just drop her, because she may or may not be involved. She's worth more to avex than some bad publicity right now.