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The story
Hiroyuki Sugiyama (49), of the comedy trio “Wagaya,” has been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of theft after shoplifting at a supermarket. The incident happened on September 15, but it came out on the 15th that Sugiyama had kept it from his talent agency for roughly a month, right up until the media reported on it. During that time he carried on working as usual, even emceeing a comedy live show in Fukuoka City on September 26. On 5ch’s Entertainment & Sports News+ board, commenters piled on questioning why he never told his agency and why he still hasn’t been fired despite that, with attention now on what disciplinary action the agency will take.
Hiroyuki Sugiyama (49), of the comedy trio “Wagaya,” was referred to prosecutors on the 14th on suspicion of theft over shoplifting at a supermarket. It emerged on the 15th that he had not reported the shoplifting to his talent agency until it was reported in the media.
According to entertainment industry sources, the agency only found out on the morning of the 14th, when a commercial TV network broke the story. Sugiyama was then called in by the agency and largely admitted to the facts during questioning.
Sugiyama committed the shoplifting incident about a month earlier, on September 15. On the 26th of that month, he kept working, including emceeing a comedy live show at a commercial facility in Fukuoka City.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Nah, you say it yourself lol
This is clearly a crime
Probably locking down the case so solidly that even if Sugiyama tries to fight it once it's confirmed, they can shut him down flat.
That, plus sorting out management for the remaining two members, including whether "Wagaya" disbands.
Yatabe can sink for all I care, but they'll want to scrub the bad image off of Tsubokura.
Did they want to make a public example of him?
There's no gap between this and the image he already had
Same deal as "Afro" from Total Tenbois (comedian nicknamed Afro who's had his own scandal troubles)
If not, that's disbandment and he's out
He's all the way out in Kyushu
It's a real test of the agency's handling
Compliance over there is a complete mess
They tried to get him to turn things around, but in the end it didn't work
Not reporting something this serious…
Unbelievable…
Wouldn't be shocked if there's more going on than just the theft
Background and key points of this story
It’s a common misunderstanding that being “referred to prosecutors” simply means the case has moved from investigators to prosecutors — it doesn’t mean an indictment or conviction has been decided. In the entertainment industry, an immediate firing over a scandal is relatively rare; agencies more often hand out a suspension and decide whether to keep the contract based on how contrite the talent seems and how public opinion shifts. In the thread, some commenters pointed out that this agency has handled past scandals with suspensions rather than firings, and there was interest in whether the same pattern would repeat here. Commenters also noted that the agency apparently had no way of knowing about the incident at all unless Sugiyama reported it himself — a point that exposes the limits of a compliance system that relies on talent self-reporting.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] “Wagaya”‘s Hiroyuki Sugiyama Didn’t Report Shoplifting to His Agency for About a Month… Admitted It Only After Media Reports — Continuing to Work Afterward Called “Unbelievable”.”
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