Olympic Opening Ceremony Director Fired Over Discriminatory Comments

The director for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics has been dismissed a day before commencement, following backlash over past comments on the Holocaust.

Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto said Kentaro Kobayashi was dismissed because of past comments that made a mockery of a tragedy.

"It came to light that during a past performance, (he) used language that mocked a tragic fact of history," Hashimoto said.

"The organising committee has decided to relieve Kobayashi of his post."

"As soon as possible we decided we will have to address the issue and we decided on the dismissal."

The dismissal of the Tokyo opening ceremony show director -who's comments were revealed from his comedy skit- comes the day before Friday’s opening ceremony of the pandemic-delayed Games.

Get the latest breaking news from SCA newsrooms around Australia. Short, simple and everything you need to know.

​