Under-fire Olympic composer steps down

Bullied classmate during childhood

July 19, 2021 10:55 pm | Updated 10:55 pm IST - TOKYO

Keigo Oyamada, a Japanese composer working on the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, resigned on Monday after coming under fire for bullying a classmate during his childhood.

“I sincerely accept the opinions and advice I have received, express my gratitude, and will keep them in mind for my future actions and thoughts,” he said on his social media accounts.

“I apologise from the bottom of my heart.”

Reports of his past verbal abuse of a child with disabilities surfaced online recently, sparking a backlash on social media and demands for his resignation.

The Tokyo Games organisers said on Sunday that he would stay on because he had shown remorse about his past actions.

Oyamada, also known as Cornelius, apologised online last week. Some critics had said he should hold a news conference and apologise in person. Others also questioned why he hadn't apologized earlier.

Oyamada, whose works have been compared to the American rock musician Beck, talked about the abuse in Japanese magazine interviews he gave in the 1990s.

It was not immediately clear if the music for Friday's opening ceremony would be modified. Oyamada's is the latest resignation to plague the Games.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.