The man in charge of directing Friday's Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony has just been fired hours before the start of the event ... after it was discovered he made a Holocaust joke in 1998.
said Thursday when the footage was brought to his attention ... he and other officials acted swiftly, removing Kobayashi from his high-ranking role.
"We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy," Hashimoto said. "We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country."
48-year-old Kobayashi later released an apology in a statement ... saying,"Entertainment should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it."Keigo OyamadaHashimoto, though, insisted the opening ceremony will go on as planned despite it all ... saying Thursday,"we are going to open the Games tomorrow under this difficult situation."at the ceremony ...
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Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony director ousted for Holocaust jokesIn the clip, from 1998, Kobayashi joked about 'playing Holocaust' as a “let’s massacre Jewish people game”
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