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J-Pop star Ayumi Hamasaki defends fan from a transphobic comment

Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki bravely defended her fan upon receiving hate and a transphobic comment on a fan video.

Hamasaki has recently released her new digital single, “Nonfiction”, a powerful and energetic pop song that is perfectly amplifies the emotions of its listeners. To help promote her new single, the singer encouraged fans to participate in a special social media challenge in relation to its music video, wherein Hamasaki herself is seen strutting down in a pink room. In the challenge, the singer wanted to see her fans do the same and make their own way of doing the sassy strut.

Since then, fans of the singer took the time to participate in the challenge, and Hamasaki had been excitingly sharing videos of her fans from all over the world doing their own strut, but unfortunately, what was supposed to be a safe space for fans to express themselves, has become a target of hate. After reposting one of the fan videos on her Instagram story, an anonymous user, later on, replied with a transphobic comment.

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Hamasaki slammed the transphobic comment and defended her fan. | Screenshot from Ayumi Hamasaki’s Instagram Story

Hamasaki immediately took a screenshot of the reply and reposted it on her Instagram story to publicly call out the user saying, ‘To the anonymous person who messaged me about the Sendai fan, are you fucking kidding me?”. The message was apparently targeted towards the fan and her gender identity, as the user called her a dirty “newhalf,” which is a Japanese slang word for a pre-operative/non-operative trans woman.

The rude comment caused the singer to be disheartened and question what this person finds “beautiful”, as the user doesn’t have it in their heart, and those words should have not been said in the first place. The singer also took the time to mention her fan and personally apologize on behalf of the hate comment they received due to her reposting the video.

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After calling out the transphobic user, Hamasaki posted another story addressed to her fans and apologized for the hater’s rude comment. | Screenshot from Ayumi Hamasaki’s Instagram Story

In the following Instagram story, Hamasaki also went on to apologize to the fans and says that it’s completely fine if she’s the one receiving hate comments but she will not tolerate seeing someone getting hate on something or someone she wants to protect.

Hamasaki’s fans are now sharing their strong support and anticipation for the singer as they look forward to the upcoming release of her DVD/Blu-ray “Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 24th Anniversary Special @ Pia Arena MM”, and with rumors that her 18th studio album is now on the horizon.

 

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