Tokyo (AFP)

The artistic director of the Tokyo Olympics announced his resignation on Thursday after the publication of offensive comments about the physique of a Japanese celebrity, a new headache for the organizers with almost four months of the opening of the Olympics.

A Japanese tabloid revealed Wednesday that Hiroshi Sasaki had suggested in the past to dress up Japanese actress and social media star Naomi Watanabe as a pig.

In a statement, Mr. Sasaki said he was "deeply sorry" for this "serious insult" to the young woman with the generous forms.

The case comes just over a month after the resounding resignation of Yoshiro Mori, the chairman of the Tokyo-2020 organizing committee, pushed out after claiming that women talk too much at meetings.

The new president of the organizing committee, Seiko Hashimoto, said Thursday she was "shocked" by the Sasaki affair.

"Joking about the physique is very inappropriate," she said at an urgently called press conference, adding that she intended to replace the artistic director quickly.

- "Olympigs" -

Naoki Okada, deputy spokesman for the Japanese government, also ruled Thursday that Mr. Sasaki's suggestion was "totally misplaced".

In March 2020, before the postponement of the Olympics to this year due to the pandemic, Mr. Sasaki had suggested to colleagues to make Naomi Watanabe appear in a pink costume and with pig ears during the opening ceremony.

His idea, which was immediately rejected, was to play on the English words "Olympics" and "Olympigs" ("pig" means pig).

Mr. Sasaki had not been appointed artistic director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games until last December, but this 60-year-old was already a key figure in various shows associated with the Games.

This professional publicist was initially responsible for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games.

He also designed the sober event in Tokyo Olympic Stadium last summer kicking off the new one-year countdown to the postponed Games (July 23-August 8, 2021).

In 2016, Mr. Sasaki was also behind the successful communication operation to disguise then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "Super Mario" during the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics.

- New blow -

"I am sincerely surprised" reacted Thursday Naomi Watanabe in a statement about the Sasaki affair.

"I am happy with the shape of my body," she said, also saying that she hoped that one day "each person will be able to respect and accept the thoughts and characteristics of others".

This 33-year-old woman, who has Taiwanese origins, is an ultra-famous media personality in Japan and very influential on social networks: her Instagram account is followed by 9.3 million people.

Famous in Japan since her imitation of singer Beyoncé in 2008, she has also gained notoriety in Western countries by appearing in 2019 in Netflix's "Queer Eye" series, which features style specialists.

At the same time actress, model and influencer in fashion and cosmetics, she also has her own brand of clothing, Punyus.

Her fully assumed curves contrast with the canons of feminine beauty in Japan, and she has already been the victim of insults about her appearance in the past.

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics would have done well without this new scandal, while they are already fighting against the skepticism of the Japanese public vis-à-vis the holding of the Games this year due to the pandemic.

Such a problem "should never have happened", regretted Thursday Ms. Hashimoto, confident that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with which she broached the Sasaki affair on Wednesday evening, was "quite concerned".

The Olympic torch relay is due to start on March 25 in Japan, but organizers have banned spectators from attending the start ceremony and partly the first stage for health reasons.

The public will be allowed on the rest of the course, but cheers and crowds will be banned and the wearing of a mask compulsory.

Several personalities have already announced that they have given up participating in the relay because of the Covid-19.

An official decision on a very likely ban on spectators from abroad at the Olympics is also expected next week.

© 2021 AFP