Interest
Anonymous Twitter Account Spreads Alleged Leaked Photos of AKB48's Yui Yokoyama Kissing Boyfriend
posted on by Kim Morrissy
An anonymous Twitter account calling itself "Weekly Journalism" has shared allegedly leaked photos of a girl believed to be Yui Yokoyama, an idol belonging to AKB48's Team 8. The girl in the photos is shown kissing a boy. Some of the photos show her in a state of undress. The "Weekly Journalism" Twitter account shared the photos on September 7 and claimed that the woman was Yokoyama based on the "mole on her face" and her clothes. The user speculated the photos were from 2015, which means that Yokoyama would have been 15 years old at the time.
According to the Twitter account's profile, the account specializes in "idol scandals" and "behind-the-scenes stories that do not become news." It claims to publish information "for people who want to know." The account has over 50,000 followers at the time of this article's publication.
On September 11, the account posted a followup tweet claiming that on the evening on September 10, Yokoyama sent an email to paid members of her fanclub admitting that she was in the photos and apologizing for them. ANN was unable to independently confirm the contents of the alleged email.
The top responses to the "Weekly Journalism" account's tweet express apathy towards the situation. One user tweeted: "Who cares? Stop trying to stir up a flame war about a girl acting her age. And what's the point of spreading this all on Twitter now after all this time? LOL Don't you have anything better to report on?" Another wrote: "The cult of purity around idols and performers needs to stop already."
One user criticized "Weekly Journalism" and accused the account of spreading revenge porn, posting a graphic that explains that revenge porn often targets minors and is a crime. They commented: "This would have happened in middle school! What about the guy? Shouldn't you hold the person who spread the photos accountable?"
A Google image search indicates that the photos first began circulating online on September 6. The Twitter account which is believed to have been the origin of the leaks has since been deleted.
There have been numerous scandals in the past decade revolving around restrictions in idols' love lives. In 2013, AKB48 idol Minami Minegishi famously shaved her head as restitution for dating while pleading that she didn't want to leave the group.
Yui Yokoyama (not to be confused with another AKB48 idol with the same name who was born in 1992) was born in 2001 and is a member of AKB48's Team 8 and Team K. She first became active as an idol in 2014.
[Via Idol Scheduler, Otakomu]
