As NGT48 announces new concerts, Maho Yamaguchi and three others seem to be distancing themselves from the unit.
On January 9, idol singer Maho Yamaguchi, a member of multi-vocalist idol unit NGT48, went public with the news that she was attacked by two men who tried to force their way into her home. The attack occurred on December 8, and after waiting a month for NGT48’s management to come forward and admit that one of its performers had been assaulted, Yamaguchi felt she had no choice but to do so herself through her Twitter account, telling her followers “It doesn’t feel like I’m alive.”
Despite both of her attackers being apprehended, neither was charged with a crime, and Yamaguchi herself would later tearfully apologize for “causing a commotion.” AKS, the company that manages NGT48, maintains that no employees or performers did anything illegal, either in mishandling Yamaguchi’s personal information in a way that allowed the attack to take place or in the company’s response following the incident. Nevertheless, AKS temporarily suspended NGT48’s performances, only announcing last Sunday that its regularly scheduled concerts at NGT48’s regular venue in a Niigata City shopping center will resume as of February 9.
Meanwhile, Yamaguchi has remained extremely quiet on social media, sending out no tweets of her own since January 9, and only retweeting twice, both times in relation to AKS replacing NGT48’s manager once the attack became public knowledge. However, while Yamaguchi herself hasn’t said anything new, there’s something significant that she’s not saying, as her Twitter profile no longer claims any affiliation with NGT48.
▼ The last photo Yamaguchi tweeted, on Christmas Day
Yamaguchi’s Twitter profile, which previously included a mention of her membership in NGT48, is now completely blank, with nothing but a link to her Instagram account (which also contains no mention of NGT48 membership in her profile), her Twitter join date, and her birthday.
NGT48’s official website does still list Yamaguchi as a member of the group, and even mentions her status as the sub-captain of its Team G division. However, Yamaguchi is absent from the list of performers for NGT48’s concerts on February 9, 10, and 11, each of which feature between six and 16 of the group’s roster of 42 idols in total.
In addition to Yamaguchi, three other NGT48 idols have also removed mention of their membership in the group from their Twitter profiles: Riko Sugahara, Fuka Murakomu, and Rena Hasegawa. All three are members of the same Team G division as Yamaguchi, and Sugahara (pictured with Yamaguchi above) and Hasegawa (seen in the video with Yamaguchi below) were the last two NGT48 members whose tweets Yamaguchi retweeted (although Aina Kusakabe, the third-most-recent NGT48 idol Yamaguchi retweeted, still has her NGT48 status mentioned in her profile).
Like Yamaguchi, Sugahara, Murakomu, and Hasegawa are not scheduled to appear in any of NGT48’s currently listed upcoming performances. In addition, none have tweeted since January 8, the day before Yamaguchi went public with the news of her attack, and while they all also remain listed on NGT48’s official website, their Twitter profile updates suggest they may be reconsidering their affiliation following Yamaguchi’s ordeal.
Sources: Twitter/@maho_yamaguchi, NGT48 official website (1, 2)
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