TOKYO (TR) – The business fallout from the reported two-timing of actress Mei Nagao with actors Kei Tanaka and Kim Mu-jun is constant.
Sankei Sports discovered on Tuesday that photographs and movies of Tanaka have been faraway from the official web sites for Suntory Holdings Limited, MOS Food Services, Inc. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Tanaka, 40, had been showing in commercials for Suntory’s Kakubin whiskey and Kaku Highball merchandise. In an interview with Sankei Sports, Suntory commented, “In light of the current situation, we have decided that it is difficult to convey the true value of the brand.” The photographs and movies have been eliminated on Tuesday afternoon.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries additionally eliminated such content material on the identical day. “We made a comprehensive judgment after considering various impacts,” a consultant of the corporate stated.
Affair
Last month, a reporter for weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun discovered Nagano, 25, inviting an apparently drunk Tanaka, who’s married, into her house in Minato Ward late at evening on April 19. Nagano and Tanaka met after they co-starred within the movie “And the Baton Was Passed” in 2021.
Further, she spent the evening with Kim, her 26-year-old co-star within the TBS drama “Caster,” the day earlier than, the journal reported.
On May 7, the net model of Bunshun reported intimate chats between Tanaka and Nagano on the app Line.
Commercial fallout
Although each businesses deny the connection and the existence of the Line conversations, the cancellations from Tuesday present their efforts haven’t stopped what’s a widening scandal.
On May 1, photos have been faraway from the official web site of Kikkoman Corporation, which makes use of Tanaka as a pitchman. That similar day, Eye City, a contact lens specialty retailer, eliminated content material that includes Nagano.
A supply with Eye City tells the Sankei that the scandal didn’t have any impression on the choice, saying that the marketing campaign had ended. Photos and movies have additionally been faraway from the official web sites of JCB Co., Ltd. and Sunstar.
An insider says, “This trend will continue, and the contract will likely end when it expires.”
No press
Meanwhile, Sankei Sports has discovered that an opening-day stage occasion to be held on May 16 for the Nagano-starring film “Kakkaku Shikajika” will probably be held with out press in attendance. A supply explanis, “If the media were invited in now, it would be dominated by Nagano’s scandal, so they are shutting out the press.”
Normally, a stage occasion is held after a film is launched to mark the movie’s success. “But even if it is held, it will be difficult to allow the press into the venue in the same way,” the identical supply says.