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The story
By September 27, Takuya Chigira, president of Cloud Nine — the talent agency representing singer Ado (23) — had updated the agency’s official X account to state that they plan to pursue legal action against slander on a case-by-case basis going forward. The controversy stems from Ado’s headlining performance at the Korean-originated music festival “INKIGAYO LIVE in TOKYO” on the 23rd, where photography and binoculars were banned in the venue, the customary all-artist finale was scrapped, and the closing number was, of all things, “Odoru Ponpokorin” (the beloved theme song from the anime Chibi Maruko-chan). On social media, frustration with the event organizers and personal attacks on Ado herself spread together in a tangle, and on 5ch both “the complaints about the staging are legitimate” and “the agency’s response is going too far” camps emerged.
September 27, 2026, 18:50
By the 27th, Takuya Chigira, president of Cloud Nine — the agency representing singer Ado (23) — had updated the agency’s official X account, addressing the swirl of pro-and-con reactions on social media over the staging of a music festival Ado performed at. He went on to state that the agency intends to respond to slander on a case-by-case basis.
Ado performed at the 23rd show of “INKIGAYO LIVE in TOKYO,” a music festival hosted by the Korean music program “SBS Inkigayo,” where she served as the headliner. At this event, artists typically all gather on stage for a finale after the last performer sings, but since that didn’t happen on the 23rd, social media saw a mix of praise and criticism over the staging.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
What on earth happened?
She could've just sat out the finale herself.
If she doesn't even want to be seen behind her cage, she didn't need to bring the cage in the first place. (note: Ado performs hidden inside a birdcage-like structure since she never shows her face)
Bottom line: if you can't show your face, don't take the gig.
Sounds like the missing finale was the real problem.
They could've just done it without Ado.
She could've just worn a costume like the Mysterious Partners from Kinnikuman. (note: masked tag-team wrestlers from the manga/anime Kinnikuman)
Apparently they did it normally the day before.
And that's why we get 'Odoru Ponpokorin'?
'Dummy!'
'Your mom's got an outie bellybutton!'
'Nyah nyah!'
Is THIS slander??
If they actually sued over that, they'd lose without question.
Lots of young women there.
In reality it's mostly middle-aged women.
Also, accept the reality that you don't even have a daughter.
Idol fandoms really are the worst.
Well yeah, if they're gonna play 'Ponpokorin' of all things…
Wouldn't an online stream do just fine?
For young kids it's fine to just go to a show, make some noise, and come home saying 'that was fun.'
Honestly a show could work even without her actually performing — just pipe the CD audio into the venue and play the music video on screen.
There really are people out there paying good money for… whatever this is.
And on top of that, the closing song was 'Odoru Ponpokorin.'
No usual finale, and they closed with 'Odoru Ponpokorin.'
Not sure if there were Japanese fans there, but yeah, the angry crowd seems to have a point.
Practically none of the audience was there for Ado, and yet they got these totally unreasonable bully-boy rules shoved on them — of course people are gonna be mad.
'Slander,' huh (lol) (note: "Gian rules" refers to the bully character from Doraemon who forces his will on everyone)
Users aren't going to feel any sympathy — if anything it just breeds resentment. Not exactly a great sales strategy for your product, is it.
Might be a weird comparison, but it's like a produce stand selling terrible apples and yelling out front, 'Anyone who says our apples taste bad, we're suing you!' Nobody's buying from that store.
It's more like a sushi place that's super strict about its house rules — tells any customer who complains 'don't bother coming back' — you just don't need to deal with people like that.
It was a secret guest slot.
Background and Key Points of This Story
President Chigira’s statement wasn’t simply a “warning about slander” — what complicates matters is that it spread while tangled up with two separate things: frustration over the festival organizers’ staging changes (the photo and binoculars ban, the scrapped finale) and personal attacks aimed at Ado herself. “INKIGAYO LIVE in TOKYO” is a joint festival hosted by a Korean music program, and at co-hosted events like this, each artist’s individual contract terms (whether filming is allowed, whether they join group staging, etc.) are often negotiated separately — meaning such calls aren’t necessarily made solely at the organizer’s discretion. On the thread, “criticism of the staging” and “personal attacks on the artist” tended to get lumped together, but legal action would fundamentally target the latter — criticism of the event operators itself is a separate matter that should be distinguished from slander. That’s a distinction readers can easily miss.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Music] Ado’s agency president hints at legal action over slander, “to protect the artist” — festival appearance sparks pro-and-con reactions on SNS [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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