Two-time grand slam champion has reacted to a controversial joke made about the colour of her skin by poking fun at the comment.
Japanese comic duo Murakami Ai and Kanou Aiko, who go by the name of A Masso, were forced to issue an apology last week after joking about the tennis star at an event in Tokyo. Performing their live show, the comedians asked ‘what does Naomi Osaka need to do?’ Prompting a controversial reply from Aiko, who took a swipe at Osaka’s skin colour. She is half-Japanese and half-Haitian.
“Bleach. Because she is a person that has too much of a tan.” Aiko said.
The fallout from the comments prompted an apology to be issued by Watanabe Entertainment two days after. In a press release the entertainment conglomerate said they will be seeking expert advice to ensure that such an incident doesn’t happen again.
“In regards to where a specific person’s name was given and a statement that did not consider the diversity, everyone from the Memories A Team, customers who watched the live event, we would like to apologize to all of those who felt uncomfortable about this matter and to all of those who were concerned and felt a great deal of inconvenience.” A statement reads.
Responding to the incident for the first time, the 21-year-old doesn’t appear to be too disturbed by the incident. In fact, Osaka decided to make her own joke about the situation on Twitter. Saying she never gets sunburnt thanks to Shiseido Anessa. A company she has been a brand ambassador for since the end of 2018.
“Too sunburned” lol that’s wild. Little did they know, with Shiseido anessa perfect uv sunscreen I never get sunburned 😊😊😊 https://t.co/VZHJlsLp62
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) September 29, 2019
The world No.4 is currently playing in the China Open. She opened up her campaign on Sunday with a straight-sets win over Jessica Pegula. She is currently on a five-match winning streak after claiming the Japan Open title. Her first WTA trophy of any sort since the Australian Open in January.
“It hasn’t really changed anything. I’ve always played well in Tokyo. I’ve always been kind of vocal that I’ve wanted to win it. That’s just one of the accomplishments that I wanted to do.” Osaka explained following her win over Pegula.
“I’m kind of just taking it step by step from there.” She added.
Osaka will play Andrea Petkovic in the second round on Monday.
