This year, Sakurai Sho has once again been chosen to be main newscaster for the 2012 London Olympics. However, lately Arashi fans have been expressing concern since it seems that “Sakurai Sho won’t come out to the public.”
A fan claims that, “When Aiba or Nino are waving their hands and greeting, Sho always escapes in a car out of sight. It’s never been like that until now.”
Fans who wait to see an idol are of course a big part of an idol’s life. Since Arashi members are especially famous for being kind to their fans who wait to see them, the fans are now beginning to ask, “Is Sakurai okay?” So, what in the world has happened to Sakurai Sho?
A pro entertainment insider states, “Some time ago, Josei Shuukanshi published an article claiming Sakurai knocked down the cellphones of fans who ran up to him. Right after this article was published, his cautiousness during work has become very high.”
According to April’s Josei Shuukanshi, Sakurai Sho knocked cellphones out of fans who had their camera phones aimed at him, while yelling “Don’t take pictures!” Since the force of the blow was so strong the phone clapped onto the ground. Witness testimonies claim that about 5 phones went flying. Since then, Sakurai’s fall from his image as a “refreshing good young man” has became a discussion among Arashi fans.
However, a fan who happened to be at the scene of the crime claims a much different story.
“Josei Shuukanshi’s article has been dramatized too much,” she says, “although it’s true [Sakurai] said ‘don’t take pictures!’, his hand only bumped into the cellphones and they fell. The article makes it seem like he was mowing the cellphones down out of their hands, but it was definitely not a fight scene atmosphere. And more than that, real fans would never just pull out their cellphone camera and point it at him, without manners. The people’s who’s cellphones dropped were probably people other than fans. ”
Although the real story might be a little or more less different, there’s no doubt it has ruined Sakurai’s image, and at this point he definitely can’t escape negative articles like this. For the fans, this might be a sad event, but let’s hope they can sympathize with Sakurai’s feelings and watch with warm eyes.
