Original Article and Photo from Yahoo!Japan News here.

Thanks to miskiq@AHS for sharing.

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Insulted ayu: AKB48 the cause of last-minute cancellation of MSta

Hamasaki Ayumi (32), who cancelled her appearance on TV Asahi’s “Music Station”‘s 25th Anniversary Special Programme on the 16th, returned to Japan from Los Angeles from the night of the 17th. Though Hamasaki offered “a deep apology”, her company avex has taken a stance that punishment is inevitable, stating that she will be “dealt with harshly”.

Regarding the reason for the last-minute cancellation, MSta and avex both put out that it was because “her body was weak after contracting acute pharyngitis, so she could not board the flight back”. On the 12th, 4 days before the programme, Hamasaki complained that she felt ill. On top of that, the “special privilege” of closing the programme, which she thought was hers, was given to AKB48 instead. Hamasaki was insulted, and openly expressed her unhappiness to her staff.

However, this problem with performance order “could have been easily solved”, according to a MSta staff. What became a problem with the programme was the reality that she “could not fly back in time”. Even though Hamasaki claimed to have been searching for flights back with all her might, suspicions from some TV staff still abound: “Did she really want to come back?”