Something Ayu said to a fan/staff?

[Ryusei]

Hi, sorry if this has been asked before but I saw someone on Jpopcentral mention some "scandals" that Ayu has been in and one of them was something she said to a staff or fan on her 2001 tour.. Does anyone know what it was she allegedly said? here's the link to the thread

[mizuki-7]

Here is the story lol

[/U]

Here's masa's small article about it:
Quote:
　To Hamasaki Ayumi, the beginning of a year seems to be the season of misfortune. In the past three years, she was given great mental shocks by the incidents or the situation changes which happened in the beginning of the years, but managed to create her albums in autumn or winter by getting over the difficulties somehow or other. The year 2002 wasn't exceptional, either, and it fell on her from the very unexpected direction.
　I write the outline briefly. -- In the middle of the Countdown Live concert 2001- 2002, she noticed some people in the front row was sitting, though the other audience were all standing, and warned them rather jokingly. The audience booed them in response to her words, and they stood up. But a few weeks later, it was rumoured that a physically handicapped person was among them. The people who gather at a BBS named "2 Channel" and like slandering and humiliating celebrities more than anything else (I call them "2 Channellers" after this) heard of it, and started to attack all together on the BBS's of Hamasaki Ayumi fansites late in January, blaming as, "Hamasaki made a discriminating remark against a physically handicapped person. Apologize! Apologize! Apologize!" All the BBS's were thrown into big confusion, and many of them were forced to be closed. -- But the fact was that there were no physically handicapped person among them sitting in the front row from the first, and indeed, they were her acquaintances. She said such words because she thought it wasn't good that her acquaintances in the special seats were sitting, while the common audience were standing. The absurdity of that tumult lied in that many prople told there must have been a victim and made a fuss, though there was no such a person actually. On Feb. 4, about two weeks after the tumult began, avex gave out the comment of President Yoda and made the facts clear. And on Feb. 12, Mr. Itoi Shigesato, who had heard the story from her, picked up the matter in his own homepage giving appropriate support to her, and the situation returned to normal at last. But even after the truth was revealed in this way, none of the "2 Channellers" who had done great harm to the fansites apologized.
　Though the incident was a year and several months ago, I feel bad recalling it now. Because the people I dislike most are those who hurt someone and enjoy it, and the "2 Channellers" are just the kind of fellows. (It's a pity that such nasty fellows seem to inhabit at higher rate in Japan in other countries.) In my opinion, they did four sinful things then. The first one was of course that they hurt her badly. The second is that they hurt the feelings of many administrators and users of the BBS's. The third is that they made themselves fall low. The fourth is that they disturbed the desirable development of democracy. (The explanation of this point would be very long, so I don't do it here.) What I want to tell them is just one thing -- "Look at yourself."
　On the other hand, there was some problem in the move of avex and her at that time. Avex first left the tumult and waited for the natural calming down. Two weeks passed, it didn't calm down at all. So they gave out the comment of the president exceptionally and intended to settle the matter immediately. And they made her not to say a word about it during the time. I hear the reason was that if she had done so, it might have added fuel to the flames or complicated the matter. But what many fans wanted then was nothing but her own words. Besides, as the correct information wasn't transmitted for as many as two weeks, the fans were also confused and splitted, which invited the unreasonable acts of the "2 Channellers" as a result. Reflecting upon the matter now, I say the best way at that time should be that she gave out her own comment soon after the tumult began and removed the misunderstandings. (Actually, as she might learn from this experience, later in September when a magazine named "Josei Seven" printed the article of her close relationship with Iseya Yuusuke, she gave out her comment quickly and stopped the rumour to grow.)
　But, as it was for the first time for both avex and her to experience such an incident, there might be no help for that reaction. By the tumult and being stopped making any remarks on it, she got depressed badly. I was afraid at that time that she might lose self-confidence again and have fear of holding a concert. But she was not so weak a person. Or all sorts of hardships since the debut as a singer made her considerably strong. During the time she was obliged to be silent, she was preparing a powerful three-piece set consisting of a single, a PV and a special issue book, as the expression of her attitude toward the tumult.

[chocopockymaster]

iirc it was during AT2002...She made a comment to someone in the front row who was sitting down during the concert telling them to stand up, and rumors started circulating that she had said it to a fan that was in a wheelchair--when in fact it was either her staff or a friend of hers. So rumors were going around that she was insensitive and rude for calling out someone in a wheelchair for not standing up, etc.

edit: Wow the above explains it way more throughly than I ever could lol

[oaristos]

oh, I've never heard of it before... I hope Japanese people don't remember that nowadays.

[truehappiness]

Yeah, it was CDL, but it was really a troll posting on an online forum iirc and was basically completely false.

[melissalove]

Originally Posted by oaristos

oh, I've never heard of it before... I hope Japanese people don't remember that nowadays.

This.

[Ryusei]

Ah, so it was that matter I've heard of that before but much less detailed thanks a lot for answering!

[Delirium-Zer0]

One of the BBS's that got shut down at the time was actually the members BBS at the TeamAyu site, sadly. I remember hearing at the time that the BBS was shut down but I didn't learn why until much later.

[Ryusei]

Thanks for answering I heard of that before but not in this much detail :O thanks ^^

[visionfactory]

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

iirc it was during AT2002...She made a comment to someone in the front row who was sitting down during the concert telling them to stand up, and rumors started circulating that she had said it to a fan that was in a wheelchair--when in fact it was either her staff or a friend of hers. So rumors were going around that she was insensitive and rude for calling out someone in a wheelchair for not standing up, etc.

edit: Wow the above explains it way more throughly than I ever could lol

You were there! It's nice to see it was real and not just rumours of rumours

[chocopockymaster]

Originally Posted by visionfactory

You were there! It's nice to see it was real and not just rumours of rumours

lol what? I wasn't there.

[melissalove]

Originally Posted by visionfactory

You were there! It's nice to see it was real and not just rumours of rumours

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

lol what? I wasn't there.

For some reason this is hilarious