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6-Year-Old Idol Skips Kindergarten After TV Program Falsely Reports Boy She Likes
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
A 6-year-old Japanese girl was in tears on Monday after someone spread a rumor about a boy she supposedly likes. That little girl happens to be the idol Ai-chan 6-sai (Ai-chan 6 Years Old), and the one spreading false information was the Fuji TV variety program Furutachi-sun.
The program's episode that aired on Sunday was discussing the youngest idols and had a feature about Ai-chan 6-sai. A female announcer on the program reported the name of a classmate Ai-chan supposedly said she liked when asked "Is there a boy you like in kindergarten?" The program aired the real name of a boy that the idol goes to school with.
Hidenori Okuma, a representative of Ai-chan 6-sai's talent agency Rainbow Music, tweeted a response to the broadcast on Tuesday. According to Okuma, the report of the boy the young idol supposedly likes was false, and he aimed to set the record straight. He was apparently watching the television broadcast with Ai-chan on Sunday.
After the program announced the boy's name, Okuma said Ai-chan broke down in tears. While sobbing, she said, "Even though I said there's no one I like... Why?... They would lie?..." Shortly after, the idol asked to borrow her mother's phone and tweeted on her official Twitter account, "I like everyone!"
Okuma said that Ai-chan never lies, and she always says there is no one that she likes in that way. Ai-chan was still crying the morning after the broadcast, and she took the day off from kindergarten.
Okuma noted that "This is not criticism of the program," but he thinks he knows where the misinformation may have started. While collecting information for the program, Okuma suspects that Ai-chan's mother's comments about boys the girl often plays with led to the false report. He thinks the information got confused in the process of making the television program. Okuma thanked the program's staff as well as Ai-chan's fans for their support. He also thanked fans on Tuesday for retweeting his tweet that corrected the program.
Fortunately, Ai-chan seems to be feeling better. Her follow-up tweet on Thursday said, "Thank you, everyone. I will do my best!" She is scheduled to perform at two separate multi-performer shows this weekend.
How did this kindergartener find herself in the spotlight in the first place? Ai-chan's mother is apparently a 25-year-old former idol, and that may have contributed to her rise in fame.
Source: Asagei Plus (森嶋時生) via Hachima Kikō
