Naomi Osaka is currently entirely focussed on winning her back to back slam at the Australian Open and become the new world no.1.
The Japanese has been playing great tennis for the entire fortnight, and she also showed a lot of grit and maturity after winning a couple of tough matches.
Unfortunately, Naomi was caught in a weird controversy after the noodle company Nissin depicted the Japanese with pale skin in an advertisement that did stir a lot of discussions.
The ad was promptly withdrawn, and Nissin apologized to say “There is no intention of whitewashing. We accept that we are not sensitive enough and will pay more attention to diversity issues in the future.”
I am tan. NAOMI OSAKA
During the press conference following her semifinal win over Karolina Pliskova, when asked about the controversy, Naomi commented
“I’ve talked to them. They’ve apologized. I’m tan. It’s pretty obvious. I don’t think they did it on purpose to be whitewashing or anything.
But I definitely think that the next time they try to portray me or something, I feel like they should talk to me about it.”
Naomi Osaka sponsor Nissin retracts Cup Noodle ads from YouTube after ‘whitewashing’ uproar https://t.co/gqm2szdBth
— The Japan Times (@japantimes) January 24, 2019